Returning Storm Atronach and Wild Hunt Crates

Zhaedri · December 2017

It's BS we can't buy stuff from it with gems. I got a 4-pack of crates and all it had for me were gems and consumables that became gems. I really wanted to be able to get something I didn't already have with my built-up gems.

Very disappointed, and feels like a HUGE rip off, EVEN compared to regular crates.

esotoon · December 2017

@Zhaedri or anyone.

Thank you for sharing your experience. Given how little information we had, I didn't know if we would even get gems for the items that we can normally trade for Crown Gems.

What happened to the new gems you got? Do they go into your regular pool of crown gems that can be spent on the current season (Flame)?

Bobby_V_Rockit · December 2017

Yeah, I bought 8 crates, absolutely nothing of value in them save a few bad costumes I already had (so NOTHING new). The gens extacted got added to the fire crate pile (~490 pre storm crates, 525 post).

esotoon · December 2017

Bobby_V_Rockit wrote: »

Yeah, I bought 8 crates, absolutely nothing of value in them save a few bad costumes I already had (so NOTHING new). The gens extacted got added to the fire crate pile (~490 pre storm crates, 525 post).

Thanks for the confirmation.

dpencil1 · December 2017

Isn't it ironic that ZOS recognized RNG in item trait drops as a "pain" point and made the Transmutation system to give a concrete end point to the grind, while at the same time restricting the usability of Crown gems and thus making players experience the same kind of "pain" of the no-end-in-sight grind?

I'm not speaking for myself as I never have or will buy a single Crown Crate, but I feel for those who would willingly do so if they could use their gems on eveerything.

beetleklee · December 2017

Pretty bummed. Always wanted that Storm Atro Senche and was really excited these were coming back, since I started playing in March and missed them, but if I can't use gems I'm not buying more crates to get 400. Guess it saves me some money...

Pretty crappy move.

Radiance · December 2017

I have hundreds of gems saved up for just such an occasion and Can't use the Gem Crate Currency ON Storm Crate Items.... This is just [snip] obscene! This is virtual Gambling for things that AREN'T REAL. We get nothing in return BUT PIXELS that can LITERALLY be copy and past data millions of times at no cost... This is insanity and EXACTLY the type of [snip] that will be More and MORE prevalent in the absence of Net neutrality and not just games but throughout the entire internet!!! I'm disgusted and DONE BUYING CROWN CRATES.

[Edited to remove profanity]

KanedaSyndrome · December 2017

ajdawson18ub17_ESO wrote: »

I have hundreds of gems saved up for just such an occasion and Can't use the Gem Crate Currency ON Storm Crate Items.... This is just [snip] obscene! This is virtual Gambling for things that AREN'T REAL. We get nothing in return BUT PIXELS that can LITERALLY be copy and past data millions of times at no cost... This is insanity and EXACTLY the type of [snip] that will be More and MORE prevalent in the absence of Net neutrality and not just games but throughout the entire internet!!! I'm disgusted and DONE BUYING CROWN CRATES.

Crown Gems are now just another form of Crowns, they've been heavily devalued and are basically not worth collecting anymore as you can't buy the things you want with them. From a business stand point, this is a very bad move which will hurt revenue, and from a moral stand point, it's a *** move.

[Edited for quote]

TonyRockaroni · December 2017

The ONE thing I want the most between both crates is the Frost Mare...I went through a ton of crates, even got two of the Storm Atronach mounts (the camel and guar)...but no Frost Mare.

pwoggy7b14_ESO · December 2017

Yeah, I didn't realize that I had a gambling problem until today when I tried to get the mind shriven skin to go with my zombie personality. Every crate I opened that didn't have the skin, I just thought, it's gonna be the next one and so on. Now I'm left with an empty wallet and no mind shriven skin. It was all I wanted and now I have no use for these gems since there is nothing else from the current crates I want. I guess I can only hope that someday ZOS will bring out another zombie-ish skin in a crate season that I can buy with gems since apparently we won't be able to spend gems on previous season items and I've spent enough money on this game already that they could hire another team of people to fix all the technical issues that have been preventing this game from being the great game it could be.

Invoca · December 2017

Pity, don't want anything from Flame Crates but really want the Clouded Senche. Go figure the gems we've saved would be useless on these.

TelvanniWizard · December 2017

Scam crates bring nothing but despair.

Lake · December 2017

Remember, the drop rate for getting any Apex mount is like 2% according to the Crown Crate Logger data. If you want a specific Apex mount it's like 0.2-0.3%.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1n1kdrywYmgjx290QwGJj9TT1Y8z4GfEMhvQ8kQnKL5g/edit#gid=0

Transairion · December 2017

These are indeed live and you can't buy anything from the Storm Crates with Gems (like you could when they were originally released).

I didn't buy any Storm, nor Wild Hunt crates even with the Gem option at the time because I didn't like anything in them. I loved the Dwarven Crates so bought a lot and got a lot of excess gems as a result... but looking back, a few of the cheap cosmetics (like tattoos and such) in the 40 gems or less range from Storm/Wild Hunt aren't too bad.

But I can't buy them with Gems. I can only throw $ at a full crate, get random loot, and spend any gems I do get on Flame Antronach crate contents (which I hate). I'm not doing to do that because that's complete insanity in my view, not worth money nor saved Crowns.

@ZOS, if I didn't spend $ on these Crates when they had Gems why on Nirn would I spend $ on them WITHOUT Gem option? Your likelihood of getting what you want is literally WORSE THAN THE ORIGINAL RELEASE.

TonyRockaroni · December 2017

Lake wrote: »

Remember, the drop rate for getting any Apex mount is like 2% according to the Crown Crate Logger data. If you want a specific Apex mount it's like 0.2-0.3%.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1n1kdrywYmgjx290QwGJj9TT1Y8z4GfEMhvQ8kQnKL5g/edit#gid=0

I think the Frost Mare has the worst drop rate, tbh. I got two of the apex mount within five Storm Atronach crates. And I wasn't even trying to get them! I just wanted the Frost Mare...which I never got and probably won't get another chance at again! >.<

AlienSlof · December 2017

This company is obsessed with gambling and RNG.

The December CS is sparse... oh, but wait... we're bringing back OLD CROWN CRATES! Direct purchases are so 'yesterday' gamble gamble gamble gamble gamble...

Looks like I'll be spending less on this game in the coming year. I'm not wasting my meagre retirement money on gambling. Nope.

Such a low-down, scummy way to treat one's paying customers.

Lylith · December 2017

was going to buy 15 storm crates or so, but i reckon i'll pass. nothing else i really want in flame crates, was hoping to spend gems for items in the older crates, but meh. <shrug>

can't support this particular iteration. good theory, but the execution is completely lacking and feels a bit predatory.

must be the season.

Dragath · December 2017

if you really want to know why you can't buy them with gems:
when crown crates and gems were introduced the consensus behind the scenes might have been: players would spend a lot of money to get the desired mount, and even if they wouldn't get it, they could buy it with a huge amount of gems, obtained by buying a big chunk of crates. win-win for the company, because either way they got the money AND they could keep most of the unlucky player base happy with the ability to buy the mounts straight up (for more money).
what they didn't realize; they underestimated how much money a certain group of players was willing to spend.
short term, that brought a lot of money.
then the problems started.
the player base that was willing to spend huge amounts of money for the crates had huge amounts of gems, because after you bought x amounts of crates, you basically just got gems. as soon as a new season started, they could use these gems to buy everything they wanted without having to gamble and receive the fillers.
this behavior made quite a dent in this years revenue.
so how could they rectify this?
step 1: give an incentive to buy crown crates every season. mounts that can't be bought with gems.
step 2: get rid of all these banked gems. skins (soon to follow other stuff) for 400 gems.
step 3: straight up denying the use of gems with these kind of "special events", fairly well prepared with a "no crown sale" black fredas to make sure, if you want that shiny stuff that isn't available anymore and you thought you could use your gems? too bad, you have to buy crowns for the full price to get a shot at it.

disclaimer: of course i have no clue what i'm taking about. take everything with a grain of salt. yada yada yada.

MythicEmperor · December 2017

Dragath wrote: »

if you really want to know why you can't buy them with gems:
when crown crates and gems were introduced the consensus behind the scenes might have been: players would spend a lot of money to get the desired mount, and even if they wouldn't get it, they could buy it with a huge amount of gems, obtained by buying a big chunk of crates. win-win for the company, because either way they got the money AND they could keep most of the unlucky player base happy with the ability to buy the mounts straight up (for more money).
what they didn't realize; they underestimated how much money a certain group of players was willing to spend.
short term, that brought a lot of money.
then the problems started.
the player base that was willing to spend huge amounts of money for the crates had huge amounts of gems, because after you bought x amounts of crates, you basically just got gems. as soon as a new season started, they could use these gems to buy everything they wanted without having to gamble and receive the fillers.
this behavior made quite a dent in this years revenue.
so how could they rectify this?
step 1: give an incentive to buy crown crates every season. mounts that can't be bought with gems.
step 2: get rid of all these banked gems. skins (soon to follow other stuff) for 400 gems.
step 3: straight up denying the use of gems with these kind of "special events", fairly well prepared with a "no crown sale" black fredas to make sure, if you want that shiny stuff that isn't available anymore and you thought you could use your gems? too bad, you have to buy crowns for the full price to get a shot at it.

disclaimer: of course i have no clue what i'm taking about. take everything with a grain of salt. yada yada yada.

I think your assessment is spot-on. These tactics are doomed to fail as they lack the blind loyalty of the playerbase, however, so they will likely carry on to a darker route: PTW.

It would start small. Maybe the ability to purchase transmutation crystals, or perhaps the insertion of higher tier consumables. The community would rightfully be mad, but just as with the crown crates, ZOS would push through. They would focus their resources on damage control to peddle a perfect image for a wounded game. DLC would likely become shorter in favor of "Chapters" (a tactic meant to rob ESO+ players). They might even allow players to 'gift' (*cough* sell *cough*) crown store cosmetics, effectively implementing gold-selling.

These are just a few theories as to what might happen should ZOS continue down this dark path. Don't take this as a prediction, but just as a concerned player addressing potential problems.

Exodium · December 2017

Lake wrote: »

Remember, the drop rate for getting any Apex mount is like 2% according to the Crown Crate Logger data. If you want a specific Apex mount it's like 0.2-0.3%.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1n1kdrywYmgjx290QwGJj9TT1Y8z4GfEMhvQ8kQnKL5g/edit#gid=0

Are these statistics genuinely true? I actually thought the apex mounts werent too hard to get compared to the super rare plague horse style mounts.

My luck so far
First time I opened a crown crate was the singular free one that ZOS provided months back and I got a wild hunt wolf apex mount.

Second time I had 1500 crowns from the membership and I used them on crates and got the reaper bear (which is ugly as *** BTW)

Yesterday I had a spare psn voucher I got as a gift and bought 8 crown crates. My first contained a storm sench mount.

I don't pour money into the game aside from eso membership crowns I get for free but I feel like I was overestimating the chances of getting these mounts cause I've been getting pretty lucky.

Jaraal · December 2017

iRWalber wrote: »

I really wanted Mind Shriven skin, and I have the gems to take.

pwoggy7b14_ESO wrote: »

Yeah, I didn't realize that I had a gambling problem until today when I tried to get the mind shriven skin to go with my zombie personality. Every crate I opened that didn't have the skin, I just thought, it's gonna be the next one and so on. Now I'm left with an empty wallet and no mind shriven skin. It was all I wanted and now I have no use for these gems since there is nothing else from the current crates I want. I guess I can only hope that someday ZOS will bring out another zombie-ish skin in a crate season that I can buy with gems since apparently we won't be able to spend gems on previous season items and I've spent enough money on this game already that they could hire another team of people to fix all the technical issues that have been preventing this game from being the great game it could be.

Now I feel bad, because I wanted a Storm Atronach Wolf, but instead I got a Mind Shriven skin that i will never use. Wish we could trade crate rewards with other players!

Living_Ded · December 2017

Invoca wrote: »

Pity, don't want anything from Flame Crates but really want the Clouded Senche. Go figure the gems we've saved would be useless on these.

Got some crates to try for it. No senche just a bunch of costumes and consumables. Real bummer.

MythicEmperor · December 2017

Jaraal wrote: »

iRWalber wrote: »

I really wanted Mind Shriven skin, and I have the gems to take.

pwoggy7b14_ESO wrote: »

Yeah, I didn't realize that I had a gambling problem until today when I tried to get the mind shriven skin to go with my zombie personality. Every crate I opened that didn't have the skin, I just thought, it's gonna be the next one and so on. Now I'm left with an empty wallet and no mind shriven skin. It was all I wanted and now I have no use for these gems since there is nothing else from the current crates I want. I guess I can only hope that someday ZOS will bring out another zombie-ish skin in a crate season that I can buy with gems since apparently we won't be able to spend gems on previous season items and I've spent enough money on this game already that they could hire another team of people to fix all the technical issues that have been preventing this game from being the great game it could be.

Now I feel bad, because I wanted a Storm Atronach Wolf, but instead I got a Mind Shriven skin that i will never use. Wish we could trade crate rewards with other players!

While it sounds like a good idea, the day they introduce crown item trading is the day they introduce a PTW cash shop.

Let me explain: If you spend enough $$, you'll get an apex or radiant mount. You would be capable of 'trading' the mount while receiving a payment of gold, essentially adding gold-buying to the cash shop.

Jaraal · December 2017

MythicEmperor wrote: »

While it sounds like a good idea, the day they introduce crown item trading is the day they introduce a PTW cash shop.

Let me explain: If you spend enough $$, you'll get an apex or radiant mount. You would be capable of 'trading' the mount while receiving a payment of gold, essentially adding gold-buying to the cash shop.

I wasn't thinking about trading crate rewards for gold. Only straight up reward for reward. Like, here's a list of people who have Apex Reward #3 (Mount X), and who want to trade for Apex Reward #7 (Skin Y). Would you like to trade? Click [Y] or [N]. Or even Player X wants Radiant Mount Z, and is willing to trade Apex Mount X plus Apex Mount Y for it. Would you like to trade? [Y] or [N].

Nothing more than that. These are strictly cosmetic items that have no effect on gameplay. Sure, it would take cash out of Zenimax's pocket, but it would result in happier players, who would still be buying crates to have something to trade with, if they didn't get what they wanted outright.