code65536 wrote: »

Rawkan wrote: »

It's almost like DLC was just released and they want the content to be relevant for longer than one week

Sure, I agree with that sentiment, too.

But not if "longer than a week" means "longer than a decade". Because at the rate at which I'm getting the blue/purple Morrowind furnishing plans (which is a grand total of zero blues/purples), I might even be looking at "longer than a century".

Even the people who do hardcore farming for plans--people who spend hours logging in and out of tombs that have hundreds of containers--report on the forums that months later they still aren't anywhere close to completing those collections. And if people who do that level of farming can't complete, then where does that leave me and the vast majority of the player base who don't go out of their way to farm like some sweatshop slave?

And when people told me--before the drop rates were fixed--that the factotums were dropping a lot of plans, I did go and spend a few hours grinding factotums. Only a few hours, though, because after having gotten just a single green CwC plan (plus about a dozen or so base game plans, most of which were green) after about 2-3 hours of factotum grinding, I came to the conclusion that it was futile and a waste of time and stopped. And this was before they nerfed fixed the factotum drop rate.

Again, this isn't about extending content longevity for the health of the game. This is to make certain parts of the game so inaccessible in order to give the cash shop the illusion of "value".

Hymzir wrote: »

I've found two purple Morrowind furnishing recipes out of several thousand urns looted. I sold both - first for 250k and the second for 500k.

I had planned on collecting them all, had planned on buying a big house in Morrowind and furnishing it with the new items. After a week or so of farming, and not having found even one blue, I gave up on it. Decided not to bother with it. Now I loot urns while doing something else, and just sell every blue one I find, and will obviously sell any purple too, since with one of those I can buy all the chapters to couple of rare motifs. Which in turn would save me a lot of frustrating grind.

I also once had plans on building a Dwemer type lab, with an elaborate arcane constructions and stuff, but the drop rates (and the mats needed for the dwemer pieces) were so ridiculous that I gave up on that idea too. Didn't even start thinking what I could do with the Ayleid pieces, since I knew I'd never find them.

I was thinking about maybe buying the CWC house since I had an interesting idea as to what to do with it while fiddling on the PTS. But the price, and the drop rate for the CWC stuff, means I wont. Any CWC plans I should find, will go on sale in the guild store.

In fact, I have decided not to bother doing such a large swath of content in the game, that am starting to wonder why do any of it really. Just run through the quest, enjoy the storylines and then go play something else. Something that actually rewards the time you invest in it with cool stuff.

It's painfully obvious that the drops rates are low to make the Clown Store look more appealing. Like, recently, I decided that I wanted a better lamp in my trophy area of my primary house. I tested several lights on the PTS, since the price in mats is way too high to do such experiments on the live server. In the end I decided that the blue quality 'Hlaalu Lantern, Hanging Paper', was the best fit. It looked cool, worked well with the other pieces and gave enough light to the area without being over bearing.

Unsurprisingly, seeing as it is a Morrowind furnishing, I did not know how to make one. Well, I only needed one, so off I went furniture shopping. But I could not find it on sale anywhere. Not the furnishing or the recipe. I checked on the internet to make sure that it was a craftable item, and sure enough it is. Yet it's not being sold in game.

As a blue recipe, it would be odd if no one had found it by now, but with these drop rates. It's entirely possible that who ever found it, didn't bother to make them for sale in guild stores since that is a hassle in itself.

I then checked Tamriel Trade Center, and according to it, no one has seen it on sale in any of the guild stores. I then checked the American server (I play on EU) and lo and behold: There is someone selling it on the American side! And only asking 35000 gold for one lantern. Such a bargain really, for a blue quality furnishng.

So... My only real option here is to just say *** it, and buy it from the Clown Store, since my chances of finding the recipe, or someone who has it, are next to nil. And if I do find someone who can make it - they can ask whatever price they want for it, not as if there is any competition.

And that makes me not want to buy the whole damn thing. I'll prolly cave in at some point since I have invested a lot of time and money in my primary home, and would like to see it "finished." And I do not think I am willing to spend hundreds of hours running around the guild kiosks in hopes of one day finding one for sale. Or spending thousands of hours farming urns in hopes of finding the recipe.

Buying the thing from the store really is the only sensible option left to me. So obviously their planned scarcity model is working. But it is leaving a bad taste in my mouth, and things like this have made me less inclined to pick up a new furnishing venture once my current projects are finished. I've invested too much time and money in them to discard them at this point. But once they are done, I doubt I'll start a new one. Knowing the drop rates for stuff, and the fact that I would have to spend large amounts of real life money to get the thing done the way I want, I am much more happier to just not do it at all. Saves me some money, and a lot of frustrations.

Had a random chat with someone in game a few days ago about the subject - and during that conversation I realized something... It's obvious that ZOS is trying to make me buy things from the store isntead of finding them in game, which is fine and understandable. They are just trying to make a bit of profit. But if the drop rates are so low, that it's pointelss to try to find them in game, and better to just buy them, then what am I playing this game for?

With the state of PVP being so bad, and housing being a relentless unforgiving grind, then... I really am starting to wonder about that. The quests? But those are, as far as I am concerned, disposable fun. You do them once and then go do something else. But since there is nothing else left in the game, except endless boring unrewarding grind, then I guess my answer is to play something else instead.

I mean... If the drop rates were reasonable, and furnishings wouldn't require constant farming of mats, and the game wasn't aimed at whales, then I'd be happy to spend hours upon hours with this game. I'd be happy subbing each month and maybe spending couple extra thousand crowns on mounts and costumes and cool center pieces for my houses. But that's just not the way things are, so... So um, the drop rates are so bad that they are driving players away, is what I think I am saying here.