Prof_Bawbag wrote: »

Slick_007 wrote: »

RinaldoGandolphi wrote: »

Crown crates like casinos are mathematically designed to make sure you are a loser 9 out of 10 times.

the usual lies peddled by the anti crate crowd who misrepresent how crates work. Casinos you can lose everything and walk out with nothing. Crates you will ALWAYS GET SOMETHING. you cannot lose. That doesnt mean you'll get what you want, but you cannot lose like a casino. Stop peddling lies

Peddling lies. By the same token so are you. Even winning the jackpot in the crates you win nothing. Zip, zero, nada etc etc. At least in the casino you stand a chance of winning something regardless of the odds against you doing so. There is no winning in game in the sense that the person you quoted mentioned. You essentially lose every time you open a crate of pixels.

I don't know that I entirely agree. With most forms of gambling IRL, you'll win something back the longer you play according to the odds, but mathematically you are unlucky to win back as much or more than you put in. Gambling isn't designed to let you break even.

Similarly, the crown crates let you win something, the value of those items varies according to the individual. But according to the (currently unofficial) odds, you are unlikely to break even. Crown gems help a little with that, again, crown crates aren't designed to let us break even as we seek the items we want.

@xbobx,
Sorry, I don't have any issues with Crown Crates mounts. I usually buy 2 x 15 crates (since they started) and get 1-3 epic mounts. I even have an Adamant Dwarven Horse. Have you ever played a thimblerigger? Your luck is next to nothing, you know it, and you're still paying for the game. Don't want to test your luck? Don't buy Crown Crates. You even have some crates for free.

While I most certainly would rather the ability to buy everything outright, I don't purchase crates with the idea I'm going for a premium mount. I have a certain amount I'll spend, which has been reduced significantly with the introduction of mounts that can't be purchased with gems simply because that's just plain ole scummy.

Instead of buying my normal 5 packs like I did at start, I buy one, and that's only if there is at least something in the low gem range that peaks my interest.

Let them go after the whales, sooner rather than later even whales get fed up being jerked around. I now spend those funds on other games.

xbobx wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

xbobx wrote: »

myskyrim26 wrote: »

ZOS are too democratic about all the things in in ESO, be that Crown Crates or architecture or quests or what ever. All they get from this foul "democracy", is constant whining, not reasonable thoughts.

what the hell are you talking about? stop defending them.

please defend this.

put flame wolf mount in crown crate.
they don't take 2 seconds to test it
wolf mount sounds like a squeaky toy.
simple fix, change the sound files
they take a month and a half to do that
do they make a new sound file, no they use the sound file of a horse.

i have been trying to get them to respond to this and they refuse to respond as usual.

sorry, but they don't know what customer service is.
they don't know how to make smart business decisions
They are greedy and yet easy ways to make money in a more ethical way are constantly staring them in the face but they are too ignorant to realize this.

now, can you defend the wolf mount issue.

Sure! ZOS was using that time to focus on important things like non-cosmetic bug fixes, server stability, and rolling out their furture DLC smoothly.

No, that can't be it.

Okay, maybe ZOS was feverishly planning on how to buff MagDK, nerf nightblades/wardens, and bring balance to PVP and PVE!

No, that can't be it either...

ZOS was probably hard at work already designing the new crown crate items. After all, they already got your money for the old items.

(This is a joke, to be clear, as I have no idea how ZOS actually spends their time, but neither fixing cosmetics nor persistent gameplay bugs seems to be a priority, possibly because they are putting out fires every time they release a major update.)

1. it would have literally took seconds to test the wolf mount, they didn't bother.
2. it would take a matter of minutes to change the sound file.

they sold creates at 20 dollars for 4, and didn't bother to test the product they put in it, but ya, lets defend them.

if any non gaming company did this with their product they would be sued or fined.

I specifically said I was making a joke...I'm not sure how much clearer I could make it that I wasn't seriously defending them.

They’re not going to publish their probabilities unless they’re forced to. Why would they. At the moment they can change the numbers any way they want to suit the situation. If they disclose the numbers then it’s fixed and no wiggle room to squeeze more money out of their subscribers when they release new crates

Ydrisselle wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

klowdy1 wrote: »

Here is a new, and exciting thread about crown crates, a subject no one ever wants to bring up. Let's see what new and refreshing things THESE people have to say about it.

My god people complain about the dumbest ***. If you just stop thinking about it, it goes away. There are no pay to win elements in them, so nothing is lost. It's also not gambling. If I go to Vegas and spend all my money, I won't be walking away with anything, unlike with the crates that literally give you things in all of them.

Its not gambling in the sense of "I pay, I lose, I get nothing OR I pay, I win eventually, I probably don't make back what I paid."

It is, however, gambling for what you want. Compared to being able to buy items directly from the Crown Store, I have to buy Crown Crates for a random chance at what I want or enough crown gems to buy that thing, the official odds of which have not been released (unlike my state lotteries).

So, to my mind, Crown Crates are
A. Vastly inferior to the option of simply buying what I want from the Crown Store and thus only exist to make ZOS some extra profit by me having to buy more crates to get a decent chance at what I want - a very predatory practice

B. Very annoying compared to my state lottery because there at least, my state has the decency is required by law to release the odds of winning. That means the state can't monkey around with the RNG factors of winning, unlike ZOS who can monkey around however they like from season to season, since the players are dependent on an addon for information about the odds.

If I'm going to gamble to get something I want, I'd like to know my odds from an official source. I know the house always wins, but I guess I like to be an informed loser.

Based on your definition every looting process in the game (and in every MMO) is gambling, every mob, every boss, every lockpicked crate, every barrel/sack/crate, every crafting node.

um...no. Unless you're paying for the loot separately, it isn't the same. You paid for the game. You get all the loot from every boss, lockpicked crate, barrel/sack/crate and crafting node as part of the game. None of the loot items are randomly/blindly sold for crowns only in the crown store.

You buy crowns. You can use those crowns to buy cosmetic items outright from the crown store. You make the decision that that sparkly extra large cat with a saddle is worth the price they ask for it or not. You know exactly what you are buying.

The rngesus boxes are absolutely guaranteed to have potions/food/scrolls in them, with a bundled value that is a better buy than purchasing them separately. While the values are supposed to be comparable or better than buying them separately, you have no control over WHAT you get in that bundle. If you wanted repair kits, oh well, rng gremlins say you get crown store poisons. Or a riding skill scroll.You have a slight chance of getting other items, like hats or costumes. There is an even slighter chance of getting a special mount. There is an infinitesimal chance of getting a radiant apex reward. You have no control over what you get. You are paying "extra" money to buy consumables and gamble on a chance of getting a special reward in addition.

Rohamad_Ali wrote: »

NyassaV wrote: »

The first and second season of Crown Crates had some very fair drop rates. They've only gotten worse which is why I buy little or none

I wrote a thread the day they introduced warning of the trend to lower drop rates over time while adding more desirable loot box exclusive items . The very same Marketer from SWOTOR was hired here to manage them . Do not be lax with real money be frugal if possible avoid them . It's a trend that's lead to much controversy but could be solved by consumers if they wished in mass . Whales make this even more difficult as they purchase lots and the data shows this is most profitable . Created our own problem here . Can't change the world but you can change yourself and never be let down .

All very true, but to simply dismiss people who buy many crates as whales is a bit simplistic. Sure, there are people out there with a large disposable income who don't much care what they spend it on, but I suspect that a far larger portion of the people who end up buying excessive amounts of crown crates are people who have some kind problem with gambling and/or impulse control.

There's a reason we regulate conventional gambling as much as we do, it can quite literally ruin people's lives, and telling people with these kinds of issue to be frugal with their money probably won't do much to solve it.

A sincere and honest letter from a fan.

Personally I find the concept of crates the lowest form of preying on honest peoples hopes.

Companies that rely on this form of revenue should be ashamed of themselves as its irreconcilable with paying for a service.

When did we normalise the immoral, "you pay me money, and there is a 0.014% chance I give you the expected service."?

will say this post should be closed since you doing this for a friend , the crates i will never buy period , if i want something iam willing to pay for it , but i need to know what iam getting , not a pick and hope and pray mix.

the cosmetic items many players love them , so there is a need for houseing items , costumes. pets and so on. eso still has to make a profit to keep the new content alive . i sub and have brought 2 other things name change and cant remember the other
item .

but still just about every mmo has to make money eso are the same , so please its simple , no need to spell it out for you

Generally, I think ESO offers some amazing value for money, but the monetization really does affect the experience. I fire up the launcher, which immediately tells me about all the new stuff in the Crown Store. I start the game, select my character and two minutes later I get a Crown Store popup. I've already paid for the game, I'm paying a sub, I'm not super thrilled about the game being all in my face, wanting me to spend more. It does hurt the immersion a bit.

I mean, you can go to a mount vendor, who has wolves or tigers or some other cool exotic critters in his stables. They'll even refer to them in dialogue, but the shop window only shows the same old horses everywhere. If you want anything that isn't a horse, you gotta pay real money. "Look at these awesome wolf mounts I'm not actually selling!" And with the new level-up system you now get free crown crates. Which is nice and all, but at the end of the day they're not giving them away out of the kindness of their hearts. They want you to buy more of them. The first fix is free.

I don't feel these crates are game-breaking. There's no must-have stuff in there, it's certainly not pay2win and, unlike annoying special offer popups, they're easy enough to ignore. With that said, I'd personally enjoy the game a lot more without all of the extra monetization. I feel it's too aggressive and too in your face. As for the crappy drop rates for the more desirable crate rewards, well... that's loot crates for ya. At least they let you turn unwanted rewards into currency you can save up towards directly buying the stuff you want. I'd personally enjoy the game more if the crates didn't exist and all of that stuff was simply on the crown-store or, better yet, could be earned just by playing the game, but it is what it is.