GunMetalGazm wrote: »

I think it's insane how game companies are all jumping on the band wagon and charging money for cosmetic items. We should be able to earn items and not have to shell out real cash for them. Bad enough companies are half assing games on release and then selling the rest of the game as DLC. And don't argue that these companies do it to keep them afloat. That is complete B.S.! A majority of these companies have been around for decades and Bethesda is one of them.

Absolutely nothing wrong with offering cosmetic items for sale. You don't have to purchase them. That's your choice. Why would you want to prevent other people's enjoyment? It's not like they are offering items that help you in combat. They are purely cosmetic. There are plenty of items in the game that are rewarded.

Quality of the updates aside. A continuously updated game requires a continous revenue stream.

JimT722 wrote: »

dday3six wrote: »

Quality of the updates aside. A continuously updated game requires a continous revenue stream.

Games are learning through the power of micro transactions they can make massive amounts of money. Now nearly every game is trying to find ways for people to spend thousands on things worth hardly anything.

The value of a game is quite varied from person to person. The same is true of the typical cosmetic items most commonly seen as mircotransactions. Neither is truly going to hold much real world value, but the time and energy to produce content does have cost. So, yes a business will prioritize making money. When entering into a relationship with a business it should be understood by the consumer that said business will seek to turn a profit.

Again I re-state that a continuously updated game requires a continuous revenue stream. People will not work for free and servers cost money to run. For ESO to continue exist it needs to be supported by consumer dollars.

Turelus wrote: »

EstelioVeleth wrote: »

Turelus wrote: »

You're about two years too late for the argument in this game, and a few years too late for it in the gaming industry in general.

Also if this game doesn't have micro-transactions then it will be mandatory subs, do you want to pay $15 a month?

Even though I pay a sub (for the crowns because I love pretty dresses and the bag and stuff) I would hate it to know that I can only play the game IF I pay, so I guess companies just try their best to survive somehow =/ . Not going to deny though, that Id love to earn some costumes in game or at least have them cheaper.

I won't say I don't want more items from in game sources (Morrowind did well for this I feel), but yeah I think people have to realise that without all those micro-transactions (even if some are stupidly over priced) we wouldn't really have much of a game to be playing.

I won't defend ZOS shady practices like Crates or the insane prices, but I will support the store being there as I want this game to continue.

"...as I want this game to continue."

That my friend, is what they want us to think and how they get away with ever increasing predatory monetization practices. And I'm not talking just about ZOS since there are many others that are much worse, but the kind of corporate thinking that wants the profits to continue to increase is what drives it.

It is only rarely about "continuing" in the sense that they can't pay their bills or they're losing money unless they do "X." It is more about not accepting modest profits and wanting to hit it out of the park so they create "X" with relatively low cost and effort and introduce it into game "Y" where the cheap asset can be sold for tremendous profit.

These are no longer friendly little companies creating games "by gamers for gamers." They are multi-billion dollar corporations with people driving the agenda who game casually if at all. If the profits weren't big enough they'd invest their money elsewhere.

The game's function as an enjoyable, well maintained entity becomes secondary to its new primary function: the delivery of very profitable digital items.

This is why things in ESO like the group finder limp along as a bug-ridden mess for 3 years and why the lag gets worse while at the same time they keep pumping out $25 mounts and Crown Crate content.

A company that can buy a commercial spot at the Superbowl to advertise what is essentially a slightly souped-up DLC is not worried about continuing to exist.

Avran_Sylt wrote: »

Would you rather have a mandatory monthly subscription?

Personally? Definitely.

But that ship sailed a long time ago. It is infinitely more profitable to make it all about the microtransactions.

This is what ESO+ members in ESO don't get. We tend to think that we are the most loyal core gamers and that the game is being made for us. In fact they care very little about that extra bit of income and would rather expose the game world to many more than those who are willing to subscribe in order to maximize the potential customer base that may want to gamble on Crown Crates or buy a new shiny digital pony that only has value in this game.

Avran_Sylt wrote: »

Would you rather have a mandatory monthly subscription?

Those times aint coming back, that much I can tell you, they worked so hard to get to the point they are now.

lordrichter wrote: »

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

KerinKor wrote: »

GunMetalGazm wrote: »

I think it's insane how game companies are all jumping on the band wagon and charging money for cosmetic items. We should be able to earn items and not have to shell out real cash for them. Bad enough companies are half assing games on release and then selling the rest of the game as DLC. And don't argue that these companies do it to keep them afloat. That is complete B.S.! A majority of these companies have been around for decades and Bethesda is one of them.

If you're a subscriber then I agree, if you play without paying anything then I don't.

And don't drag Bethesda into this they have NOTHING TO DO with ESO, blame their parent Zenimax Inc.

While we could lay blame at the feet of ZeniMax Media, in this case, Bethesda is adequate. To some degree, ZOS. They work together to bring us the Crown Store, Crown Crates, ESO Plus, and Chapters. No one knows, for sure, where the line is between ZOS and Bethesda. I like to think that everything evil about the game (B2P, Crown Store badness, Crown Crates, Chapters, endless lore-breaking mount re-skins, etc) was championed by Bethesda, while all the good in the game comes from ZOS.

Quite the counterintuition there... But hey, we all like to daydream from time to time, right?

Makes perfect (not) sense since Bethesda indicated they would never make an online/mutliplayer version of their games. They provided backstory, lore, consultation.

ZoS is its own separate animal, doing what makes ZoS money. @KerinKor has it right. Bethesda was, and is, doing just fine. Why you think they would request B2P crown store nonsense is beyond me.

I suspect the folks at Bethesda can't sit still in their chairs when they hear about some of the new developments for their beloved franchise turned MMOney machine.

You do realize that Bethesda Softworks is the company that publishes this game, right? The same company that Todd Howard and everyone at Bethesda Game Studios works for. They are the marketing and advertising people. What does that mean? This is what I figure: They run the ESO Store. We buy ESO Plus from them. We buy Crowns from them. They are the ones who hand out game license keys and physical media to retail outlets. They are the ones who commission Prima guides for the game. They are the ones that commission XBox, PS4, and PC Crown and ESO Plus retail cards (where available). It is their Twitch channel that ZOS uses. Server status Tweets come from Bethesda. They are the first company to present their logo when you open the game.

Lol k

If there is a guy holding a gun to your head then yes your right, if not then you can still decide not to buy the stuff.

Just stop buying cosmetics lol