How do you cope without a sub?

Surgee · August 2017

Hello,
I've been thinking of going back into the game with a bunch of friends but we reminded ourselves that there is no craft bag without a sub and devs keep on adding new ingredients just to make it worse. Did anything change in the past few months? Was there maybe a home storage added to the game or something of that sort? Or maybe subscription got more benefits? Right now the need of a subscription to store crafting ingredients is the only thing that keeps us away from coming back and buying Morrowind.
What're your thoughts? Any tips?
Thanks!

Danksta · August 2017

Double bank space for subs

Rosveen · August 2017

It's just as awful for non-subs as it was before.

KingYogi415 · August 2017

Credit card!

wesley41 · August 2017

Create a mule (alt character) that you use only for storage purposes.

Another method I use is to list something for sale and then immediately cancel the sale. You'll lose a little on the transaction, but that item will remain in your mailbox for 30 days. I'm not sure how many items this method accommodates but, from personal experience, it's quite a lot.

No need for a sub or to give money for a product that stops working every few days.

Megabear · August 2017

I've only subscribed for one month. Devs do seem to starve players of inventory space but if you're smart about things it's manageable. My setup is below:

Personal Bank: Provisions and whatever I farm up, to be distributed to mules later
Personal Guild Bank: Full stacks of mats & max lvl provisions, BoE gears for selling/storage, miscellaneous
Character with Treasure Hunter passive: Treasure Maps
Dedicated Crafting Char: Trait, Styles and Improvement mats
Mule #1: Enchant & Alchemy mats
Mule #2: Blacksmithing, Wood Crafting, Clothing and Furniture mats except Improvement mats
Mule #3: Monster Sets
Mule #4: Bound Sets

- I used to store stuff for research in guild bank but I'm almost done now. However I regret doing so since I could have just spent couple hundred gold and buy what I need instead.

- Every morning i train horses and I use that time to unload all my stuff in the bank to my mules. I am very selective about which gears to keep and which traits to keep so I haven't ran out of space so far. I have 4 more character slots I can unlock so I think I'll be fine.

- I use provisions pretty much right away and as I level up new characters I purchase recipes in advance to make this happen.

Basically once you have a system down not having subscription becomes a non-issue. I only subscribe if I need Crown and I will renew subscription for the same reason, not because I need a crafting bag.

Malic · August 2017

Mule's. I had a sub for years until they breached and sold DLC outside of the subscription. It was a pain at first but its actually worked out better as I now have to be mindful of what I am carrying and excess, surplus and non essentials gets sold much quicker and converted to gold.

Megabear · August 2017

One more thing to add, you're going to need some bag space on your mules. So I might recommend subscribing for a month or something so that you can use that time to train up horse bag space. That's 30 more space for each one of your mules. Of course if you have enough gold to cover whatever space you need on your mules it's fine.

Surgee · August 2017

Thanks a lot for the tips! It seems like nothing changed. I will give it a shot without the sub, morrowing alone is crazy expensive. I hope they've fixed some bugs on console that I reporting for over a year with no luck. I gave up on PC version loong time ago.

kargen27 · August 2017

I look at it like this. If I play only three hours a month subscribing is a bargain compared to going to a movie or just about any other kind of entertainment. Personally I would probably sub even without the benefits. That said being able to craft something I need with any character I happen to be on is nice. Materials going straight to a crafting bag instead of taking up inventory when I am taking a character through public dungeons or just out and about killing things is really nice. Frees up a whole lot of time where I can do what I find fun instead of trying to manage inventory.

I'm a hoarder though I suppose. I got a 2nd account when Amazon had a sale and send gear I know I won't use a while to that account. One character has over 100 rings I will probably never use.

BraidasNM · August 2017

private guild bank

Danikat · August 2017

1) Mule for materials I don't use often (like rare motif materials) and other things I want to keep but don't need quick access to.

2) Dedicated crafting character so he keeps a bunch of materials in his inventory. At the moment mainly enchanting and alchemy stuff, but I keep changing my mind on what it makes most sense for him to hold.

3) A bit of common sense and willingness to ignore hoarder tendancies. I don't keep more than 1 stack of any material unless I'm absolutely certain I'll need it (in which case I won't be keeping it for long because I'll use it). Likewise I don't hold onto dozens of sets of equipment just in case one day in 3 years time a balance patch makes them useful for 2 months.

Honestly without crafting materials my bank would be almost empty most of the time so storing them isn't a problem.

coop500 · August 2017

Create a personal guild storage bank and invite noobs that have a high chance of quitting soon after they began, triple bonus points if you do this during a free ESO weekend. Then you get free 500 bank spaces.

svartorn · August 2017

Megabear wrote: »

I've only subscribed for one month. Devs do seem to starve players of inventory space but if you're smart about things it's manageable. My setup is below:

Personal Bank: Provisions and whatever I farm up, to be distributed to mules later
Personal Guild Bank: Full stacks of mats & max lvl provisions, BoE gears for selling/storage, miscellaneous
Character with Treasure Hunter passive: Treasure Maps
Dedicated Crafting Char: Trait, Styles and Improvement mats
Mule #1: Enchant & Alchemy mats
Mule #2: Blacksmithing, Wood Crafting, Clothing and Furniture mats except Improvement mats
Mule #3: Monster Sets
Mule #4: Bound Sets

- I used to store stuff for research in guild bank but I'm almost done now. However I regret doing so since I could have just spent couple hundred gold and buy what I need instead.

- Every morning i train horses and I use that time to unload all my stuff in the bank to my mules. I am very selective about which gears to keep and which traits to keep so I haven't ran out of space so far. I have 4 more character slots I can unlock so I think I'll be fine.

- I use provisions pretty much right away and as I level up new characters I purchase recipes in advance to make this happen.

Basically once you have a system down not having subscription becomes a non-issue. I only subscribe if I need Crown and I will renew subscription for the same reason, not because I need a crafting bag.

Its unfathomable why people would go through such time wasting efforts to avoid paying $12.

coop500 · August 2017

svartorn wrote: »

Megabear wrote: »

I've only subscribed for one month. Devs do seem to starve players of inventory space but if you're smart about things it's manageable. My setup is below:

Personal Bank: Provisions and whatever I farm up, to be distributed to mules later
Personal Guild Bank: Full stacks of mats & max lvl provisions, BoE gears for selling/storage, miscellaneous
Character with Treasure Hunter passive: Treasure Maps
Dedicated Crafting Char: Trait, Styles and Improvement mats
Mule #1: Enchant & Alchemy mats
Mule #2: Blacksmithing, Wood Crafting, Clothing and Furniture mats except Improvement mats
Mule #3: Monster Sets
Mule #4: Bound Sets

- I used to store stuff for research in guild bank but I'm almost done now. However I regret doing so since I could have just spent couple hundred gold and buy what I need instead.

- Every morning i train horses and I use that time to unload all my stuff in the bank to my mules. I am very selective about which gears to keep and which traits to keep so I haven't ran out of space so far. I have 4 more character slots I can unlock so I think I'll be fine.

- I use provisions pretty much right away and as I level up new characters I purchase recipes in advance to make this happen.

Basically once you have a system down not having subscription becomes a non-issue. I only subscribe if I need Crown and I will renew subscription for the same reason, not because I need a crafting bag.

Its unfathomable why people would go through such time wasting efforts to avoid paying $12.

It's very dedicated, I approve for taking the effort to avoid doing what ZOS is trying to force everyone to do.

Megabear · August 2017

kargen27 wrote: »

I look at it like this. If I play only three hours a month subscribing is a bargain compared to going to a movie or just about any other kind of entertainment. Personally I would probably sub even without the benefits. That said being able to craft something I need with any character I happen to be on is nice. Materials going straight to a crafting bag instead of taking up inventory when I am taking a character through public dungeons or just out and about killing things is really nice. Frees up a whole lot of time where I can do what I find fun instead of trying to manage inventory.

I'm a hoarder though I suppose. I got a 2nd account when Amazon had a sale and send gear I know I won't use a while to that account. One character has over 100 rings I will probably never use.

This is the same excuse everyone uses. "I could be spending money at a bar instead". You could NOT go to a bar and not subscribe to ZOS and you'll be just fine. Also if you look at your finances more closely you'll notice that they are generally small things, small things that add up.

I started thinking the opposite way at a certain point in my life. Hey I could be saving this much money instead of spending it. Prior to this I had very small savings. After I changed my way of thinking I grew substantial amount of saving and eventually bought a home.

My point is, you need the money, not ZOS. They own many companies, you don't.

Megabear · August 2017

svartorn wrote: »

Megabear wrote: »

I've only subscribed for one month. Devs do seem to starve players of inventory space but if you're smart about things it's manageable. My setup is below:

Personal Bank: Provisions and whatever I farm up, to be distributed to mules later
Personal Guild Bank: Full stacks of mats & max lvl provisions, BoE gears for selling/storage, miscellaneous
Character with Treasure Hunter passive: Treasure Maps
Dedicated Crafting Char: Trait, Styles and Improvement mats
Mule #1: Enchant & Alchemy mats
Mule #2: Blacksmithing, Wood Crafting, Clothing and Furniture mats except Improvement mats
Mule #3: Monster Sets
Mule #4: Bound Sets

- I used to store stuff for research in guild bank but I'm almost done now. However I regret doing so since I could have just spent couple hundred gold and buy what I need instead.

- Every morning i train horses and I use that time to unload all my stuff in the bank to my mules. I am very selective about which gears to keep and which traits to keep so I haven't ran out of space so far. I have 4 more character slots I can unlock so I think I'll be fine.

- I use provisions pretty much right away and as I level up new characters I purchase recipes in advance to make this happen.

Basically once you have a system down not having subscription becomes a non-issue. I only subscribe if I need Crown and I will renew subscription for the same reason, not because I need a crafting bag.

Its unfathomable why people would go through such time wasting efforts to avoid paying $12.

I make nearly 6 figures so $12 a month is non-issue. It's more about the principal of things than anything else for me. I'd be more than happy to "waste time" on inventory management than spend money on something I feel that I don't need. Support the game? No, we need the support not ZOS. If you want my support give me something worth spending my money on such as something other than crafting bag that's meaningful to gaming experience.

kargen27 · August 2017

Megabear wrote: »

kargen27 wrote: »

I look at it like this. If I play only three hours a month subscribing is a bargain compared to going to a movie or just about any other kind of entertainment. Personally I would probably sub even without the benefits. That said being able to craft something I need with any character I happen to be on is nice. Materials going straight to a crafting bag instead of taking up inventory when I am taking a character through public dungeons or just out and about killing things is really nice. Frees up a whole lot of time where I can do what I find fun instead of trying to manage inventory.

I'm a hoarder though I suppose. I got a 2nd account when Amazon had a sale and send gear I know I won't use a while to that account. One character has over 100 rings I will probably never use.

This is the same excuse everyone uses. "I could be spending money at a bar instead". You could NOT go to a bar and not subscribe to ZOS and you'll be just fine. Also if you look at your finances more closely you'll notice that they are generally small things, small things that add up.

I started thinking the opposite way at a certain point in my life. Hey I could be saving this much money instead of spending it. Prior to this I had very small savings. After I changed my way of thinking I grew substantial amount of saving and eventually bought a home.

My point is, you need the money, not ZOS. They own many companies, you don't.

My point was as entertainment goes this is very cheap. Sure if you don't want to spend any money on entertainment ever then subscribing would be a no go. Then again purchasing the game kind of same category. If you do spend money on entertainment the cost per hour for subscribing is really low compared to most other activities.

I'm debt free, own my home and have my own company not that it matters for the point I was making.

Surgee · August 2017

kargen27 wrote: »

I look at it like this. If I play only three hours a month subscribing is a bargain compared to going to a movie or just about any other kind of entertainment. Personally I would probably sub even without the benefits. That said being able to craft something I need with any character I happen to be on is nice. Materials going straight to a crafting bag instead of taking up inventory when I am taking a character through public dungeons or just out and about killing things is really nice. Frees up a whole lot of time where I can do what I find fun instead of trying to manage inventory.

I'm a hoarder though I suppose. I got a 2nd account when Amazon had a sale and send gear I know I won't use a while to that account. One character has over 100 rings I will probably never use.

It's not that I can't afford it (If I play ESO I need to buy subs for 3 accounts though, so that's 34 euro a month, almost a brand new game) I just try to manage my money better. I've already dropped hundreds of Euros in this game on collectors editions, dlc's etc...and then I discovered that a lot of other games give you DLC and improvements for FREE. No ESO for few months saved me lots and lots of cash. I also made myself a promise that I'd never sub to ESO again because of the "we don't give a f***" approach of the customer support/devs anytime I reported ground breaking bugs that did not affect crown store (if it's about a crown store, devs reply and fix right away). I've just learned the performance bugs that are present since Orsinium still didn't get fixed. Damn...
All those tips from you kind people for sure will come in handy

Invincible · August 2017

The game is unplayable by design without craft bag. Unless you find micro managing inventory across several accounts and 20 toons enjoyable.

MLGProPlayer · August 2017

I use Bank Manager add-on on PC. It pretty much functions the same way as craft bag. Every time you access a bank, all your mats get deposited. If you have the banker assistant, this means you can deposit your mats wherever you are.

I also use Advanced Filters, which adds tabs to your inventory/bank, making it easy to find what you need (there are mats tabs, of course, identical to the ones in the craft bag).

I store gear (other than stuff I use regularly) on mules instead of in the bank, leaving the bank open for mats.

Surgee · August 2017

Invincible wrote: »

The game is unplayable by design without craft bag. Unless you find micro managing inventory across several accounts and 20 toons enjoyable.

I don't get this about ZOS. When people enjoy the game they like to spend money on it, but blocking away content like that just pisses people off and makes them stop the sub. No wonder the population keeps on dropping. It seems like maintaining a car is cheaper than keeping up with ESO.

Take Paladins as an example, no paywalls and people just give them money because the game is good (I've pumped some cash in it myself just to support the product)

PlagueSD · August 2017

Megabear wrote: »

svartorn wrote: »

Megabear wrote: »

I've only subscribed for one month. Devs do seem to starve players of inventory space but if you're smart about things it's manageable. My setup is below:

Personal Bank: Provisions and whatever I farm up, to be distributed to mules later
Personal Guild Bank: Full stacks of mats & max lvl provisions, BoE gears for selling/storage, miscellaneous
Character with Treasure Hunter passive: Treasure Maps
Dedicated Crafting Char: Trait, Styles and Improvement mats
Mule #1: Enchant & Alchemy mats
Mule #2: Blacksmithing, Wood Crafting, Clothing and Furniture mats except Improvement mats
Mule #3: Monster Sets
Mule #4: Bound Sets

- I used to store stuff for research in guild bank but I'm almost done now. However I regret doing so since I could have just spent couple hundred gold and buy what I need instead.

- Every morning i train horses and I use that time to unload all my stuff in the bank to my mules. I am very selective about which gears to keep and which traits to keep so I haven't ran out of space so far. I have 4 more character slots I can unlock so I think I'll be fine.

- I use provisions pretty much right away and as I level up new characters I purchase recipes in advance to make this happen.

Basically once you have a system down not having subscription becomes a non-issue. I only subscribe if I need Crown and I will renew subscription for the same reason, not because I need a crafting bag.

Its unfathomable why people would go through such time wasting efforts to avoid paying $12.

I make nearly 6 figures so $12 a month is non-issue. It's more about the principal of things than anything else for me. I'd be more than happy to "waste time" on inventory management than spend money on something I feel that I don't need. Support the game? No, we need the support not ZOS. If you want my support give me something worth spending my money on such as something other than crafting bag that's meaningful to gaming experience.

For me it comes down to how much my time is worth to me. Right now, $12/month is a better deal. I don't have a lot of time to play when I can log on. I don't want to waste most of it managing my inventory.

MLGProPlayer · August 2017

svartorn wrote: »

Megabear wrote: »

I've only subscribed for one month. Devs do seem to starve players of inventory space but if you're smart about things it's manageable. My setup is below:

Personal Bank: Provisions and whatever I farm up, to be distributed to mules later
Personal Guild Bank: Full stacks of mats & max lvl provisions, BoE gears for selling/storage, miscellaneous
Character with Treasure Hunter passive: Treasure Maps
Dedicated Crafting Char: Trait, Styles and Improvement mats
Mule #1: Enchant & Alchemy mats
Mule #2: Blacksmithing, Wood Crafting, Clothing and Furniture mats except Improvement mats
Mule #3: Monster Sets
Mule #4: Bound Sets

- I used to store stuff for research in guild bank but I'm almost done now. However I regret doing so since I could have just spent couple hundred gold and buy what I need instead.

- Every morning i train horses and I use that time to unload all my stuff in the bank to my mules. I am very selective about which gears to keep and which traits to keep so I haven't ran out of space so far. I have 4 more character slots I can unlock so I think I'll be fine.

- I use provisions pretty much right away and as I level up new characters I purchase recipes in advance to make this happen.

Basically once you have a system down not having subscription becomes a non-issue. I only subscribe if I need Crown and I will renew subscription for the same reason, not because I need a crafting bag.

Its unfathomable why people would go through such time wasting efforts to avoid paying $12.

It's $18 here in Canada.

And it's simply not worth it to me, even though I can afford it. As a non-crafter, the bag was never a necessity for me. And add-ons can largely mimic its functionality anyway.

The main draw for me of the sub was getting access to all the DLC (the craft bag was a nice bonus). Now that I have to buy an expansion annually as well, that value is gone for me. I was subbed for almost a year before I cancelled.

Megabear · August 2017

kargen27 wrote: »

Megabear wrote: »

kargen27 wrote: »

I look at it like this. If I play only three hours a month subscribing is a bargain compared to going to a movie or just about any other kind of entertainment. Personally I would probably sub even without the benefits. That said being able to craft something I need with any character I happen to be on is nice. Materials going straight to a crafting bag instead of taking up inventory when I am taking a character through public dungeons or just out and about killing things is really nice. Frees up a whole lot of time where I can do what I find fun instead of trying to manage inventory.

I'm a hoarder though I suppose. I got a 2nd account when Amazon had a sale and send gear I know I won't use a while to that account. One character has over 100 rings I will probably never use.

This is the same excuse everyone uses. "I could be spending money at a bar instead". You could NOT go to a bar and not subscribe to ZOS and you'll be just fine. Also if you look at your finances more closely you'll notice that they are generally small things, small things that add up.

I started thinking the opposite way at a certain point in my life. Hey I could be saving this much money instead of spending it. Prior to this I had very small savings. After I changed my way of thinking I grew substantial amount of saving and eventually bought a home.

My point is, you need the money, not ZOS. They own many companies, you don't.

My point was as entertainment goes this is very cheap. Sure if you don't want to spend any money on entertainment ever then subscribing would be a no go. Then again purchasing the game kind of same category. If you do spend money on entertainment the cost per hour for subscribing is really low compared to most other activities.

I'm debt free, own my home and have my own company not that it matters for the point I was making.

You can get the same entertainment without spending money on subscription fee that basically gets you crafting bag. It's not about whether the fee is high or low, it's about whether the money you're spending on is worth what you're getting. The base game? Hell yeah it's worth it. Morrowind? Not really, but I'm willing to spend money on it. $12.99~$14.99 for crafting bag per month? No, definitely not worth my money. You do get 1500 Crowns per month, but even if you sub for 6 months at a time cost of 5500 Crowns would be $24 during Crown sale vs $47.63 w/ 6 months sub. I only need the Crown, not the crafting bag, so there is no reason for me to subscribe. I tried subscribing for 1 month and I realized I really do not need the bag. I'll stock up on Crown next time it's on sale and call it a day.

mesmerizedish · August 2017

I play the Stalker's route in Ladykiller in a Bind.

Wait, I misunderstood the question.

Ranger74z · August 2017

I don't quite understand how people are so excited by a crafting bag, to be honest.

I'm not the one to collect everything, but between my inventory and the bank
I've got plenty of space for all my items.

Sure, every few dungeons I need to sell/breakdown items but is that really so bad?

Doing Well Without Subbing,

Ranger

Runs · August 2017

I have 3 accounts.

Account 1 I play. Banker and Merchant both save a lot of time running to town. When inventory is full of stuff I don't save or vendor it gets mailed out to account 2.

The second account is set up as such;

Character 1 gets the mail from main account. Then deconstructs all gear and places all materials in bank.
Character 2 holds alchemy materials.
Character 3 holds blacksmithing materials, when a stack is full it gets listed at trader.
Character 4 holds clothing materials, when a stack is full it gets listed at trader.
Character 5 holds enchanting materials.
Character 6 holds style and trait items.
Character 7 holds provisioning materials, when a stack is full it gets listed at trader.
Character 8 holds woodworing materials, when a stack is full it gets listed at trader.

Account 3 is overflow alchemy, enchanting, style and trait mats. It also holds non bound furnishings that I don't wish to part with yet, and non bound equipment I am saving for sets.

Slurg · August 2017

You can join a trade guild or two and sell all the stuff you don't use often, and just keep one stack of the mats you use frequently in your bank. Then you'll also have plenty of gold to just buy the mats you need when you want to craft something.

Or depending how many friends are in your "bunch" and how much you trust them, you can share one guild bank full of crafting mats.

Mondini · August 2017

I delete tons of crap. Shame it's gunna be good soon.

Wolfpaw · August 2017

I subbed til 160, didn't see it worth going past that, plus I had all my crafting leveled for some of the skills (upgrading armor/weapons for less, cooking, etc..), and If I want a dlc I will buy it, or sub for a month to get the questline, and rewards done.

I don't find crafting worth the time like other mmo's. I just vendor or guild trader items. All the sets I want are drops, and players are always selling the stuff to upgrade.