So now we're gambling for currency

Ruinhorn · December 2018

Genomic wrote: »

For the people not getting it. It's not about you being an 'adult' or people having 'self control', it's about ZOS inserting increasingly deceptive and psychologically manipulative tactics within the game.

https://www.pcgamer.com/behind-the-addictive-psychology-and-seductive-art-of-loot-boxes/

Why do loot boxes provide such a dark compulsion? Psychologists call the principle by which they work on the human mind 'variable rate reinforcement.' "The player is basically working for reward by making a series of responses, but the rewards are delivered unpredictably," says Dr Luke Clark, director at the Center for Gambling Research at the University of British Columbia. "We know that the dopamine system, which is targeted by drugs of abuse, is also very interested in unpredictable rewards. Dopamine cells are most active when there is maximum uncertainty, and the dopamine system responds more to an uncertain reward than the same reward delivered on a predictable basis."

What's more, the effect of variable rate reinforcement is very persistent. Psychologist B.F. Skinner conducted trials during the early 1930s in which he conditioned animals to respond to certain stimuli in closed chambers that became known as Skinner Boxes, and showed that even when the rewards were removed, the subject would continue responding for sometimes hundreds of trials, trying to recreate the circumstances in which it got its reward before.

"Modern video games then amplify this idea by having many overlapping variable ratio schedules," says Clark. "You're trying to level up, advance your avatar, get rare add-ons, build up game currency, all at the same time. What this means is that there is a regular trickle of some kind of reinforcement."

This design closely mirrors the near-misses in many forms of gambling, from horse racing to roulette. As psychologist Luke Clark has said, "A moderate frequency of near-misses encourages prolonged gambling, even in student volunteers who do not gamble on a regular basis. Problem gamblers often interpret near-misses as evidence that they are mastering the game and that a win is on the way."

Maybe I'm really ill, but I simply don't buy crowns for a long time (bought 10k two years ago on 50% sale and still have 3.5k), and especially never buy Crates, because I see it being stupid. Compulsion? Manipulating? Please... I buy only things I really very interested in and things I see useful. If I have any doubts - just ignore it. And I was very surprised about people who spend a lot of money just because they can't not to spend. Moreover, they spend it on unneeded things instead of something useful for themselves.

So yes, gambling is about self-control and being adult. No need to hide behind the science and deep thoughts about how human's soul and mind are complicated. Like an alcohol. So easy to drink, but not everyone can stop at the right time or say "no". Science? Drugs? Psychologically manipulative tactics? Aliens?

Reistr_the_Unbroken · December 2018

Genomic wrote: »

For the people not getting it. It's not about you being an 'adult' or people having 'self control', it's about ZOS inserting increasingly deceptive and psychologically manipulative tactics within the game.

https://www.pcgamer.com/behind-the-addictive-psychology-and-seductive-art-of-loot-boxes/

Why do loot boxes provide such a dark compulsion? Psychologists call the principle by which they work on the human mind 'variable rate reinforcement.' "The player is basically working for reward by making a series of responses, but the rewards are delivered unpredictably," says Dr Luke Clark, director at the Center for Gambling Research at the University of British Columbia. "We know that the dopamine system, which is targeted by drugs of abuse, is also very interested in unpredictable rewards. Dopamine cells are most active when there is maximum uncertainty, and the dopamine system responds more to an uncertain reward than the same reward delivered on a predictable basis."

What's more, the effect of variable rate reinforcement is very persistent. Psychologist B.F. Skinner conducted trials during the early 1930s in which he conditioned animals to respond to certain stimuli in closed chambers that became known as Skinner Boxes, and showed that even when the rewards were removed, the subject would continue responding for sometimes hundreds of trials, trying to recreate the circumstances in which it got its reward before.

"Modern video games then amplify this idea by having many overlapping variable ratio schedules," says Clark. "You're trying to level up, advance your avatar, get rare add-ons, build up game currency, all at the same time. What this means is that there is a regular trickle of some kind of reinforcement."

This design closely mirrors the near-misses in many forms of gambling, from horse racing to roulette. As psychologist Luke Clark has said, "A moderate frequency of near-misses encourages prolonged gambling, even in student volunteers who do not gamble on a regular basis. Problem gamblers often interpret near-misses as evidence that they are mastering the game and that a win is on the way."

I’m pretty sure EA started this whole shibang first

Delsanab14_ESO · December 2018

moses1763 wrote: »

so as an 'adult' you are asserting it is ZoS' fault that you can not control your own need to 'crate gamble'; maybe such a person is not as mature as they may think themselves to be.

Op self control and the ability to understand you almost never ever get what you want when you want it especially in gambling are two hallmarks to Adulthood.

Own your shortcomings and the path to true maturity comes quickly.

Happy Holidays!

It is things like this that really rub me the wrong way and demonstrate a complete lack of ignorance to the fact that games have intentionally designed* addictive mechanics and many of them are intentionally adding things they know will cause the reward processes of the brain to trigger and especially impact those that have a predisposition to gambling.

It IS gambling, by definition. Now some people may be okay with gambling and some may not, but we must first acknowledge by definition that it is gambling.

With that confirmed we must recognize the next factor which is that not only is it gambling but Zenimax is intentionally trying to get people to give in to gambling. That is what the free crates for a bit to get you hooked on thing is for with the daily and it is why they are constantly watching the EU results for those laws being considered to curb gambling. It's also not just gambling but really bad-odds gambling.

Let us also not forget that historically and statistically gambling preys on the poor or needy. And when people mention gambling in the "adult" world (and lets not forget according to physiology you're not an adult until your brain stops developing at about age 28 at which point its harder to shape and influence your mind) as some kind of defense, they seem to forget the hugely negative impacts it has.

It's not like they had a feature for gambling and never pushed it or mentioned it or tried to make it more and more attractive and addicting. That is not how this works.

Anyone lying or distorting this information should be ashamed of themselves and required to read up on game-reward systems and the history of law suits and intentional addictive mechanics, sometimes even aided by hiring or consulting psychologists when making games.

Katahdin · December 2018

lordrichter wrote: »

Kiralyn2000 wrote: »

Yes, ZOS "requires" that the game makes money, or it will be shut down. That does not equal "crates crates are required to play".

No, but it is required that people buy crates.

ZoS would make plenty of money if they just put the stuff in the store for crowns.
Most of their customers would be much happier just buying them directly instead of chance boxes and low chance RNG.

In any case, unless the FTC declares them illegal, or people stop buying them in the quanties they appear to be, they will not go away.
We have been complaining about RNG boxes for around 2 years now.
No amount of complaining will stop people that want them from buying them. Its their money to do with as they please.

If you dont like the boxes, speak with your wallet and do not buy them

.

Fischblut · December 2018

Nowdays its more a curse than benefit to have expensive mounts. No one wants to see that you are financing for ZOS' inertia on fixing the game and making them focused an develop expensive and useless collectibles.

Curse is that we can't display all mounts together, only 10 max

And when designers don't finish the mount (for example don't give it proper voice and sound effects) :'(

I welcome the fact that we can buy rare mounts for gems, it might mean we will get all Radiants for gems someday

I don't welcome the fact that mount can cost 600 gems and still sound like an ordinary senche...

Delsanab14_ESO · December 2018

Ruinhorn wrote: »

Genomic wrote: »

For the people not getting it. It's not about you being an 'adult' or people having 'self control', it's about ZOS inserting increasingly deceptive and psychologically manipulative tactics within the game.

https://www.pcgamer.com/behind-the-addictive-psychology-and-seductive-art-of-loot-boxes/

Why do loot boxes provide such a dark compulsion? Psychologists call the principle by which they work on the human mind 'variable rate reinforcement.' "The player is basically working for reward by making a series of responses, but the rewards are delivered unpredictably," says Dr Luke Clark, director at the Center for Gambling Research at the University of British Columbia. "We know that the dopamine system, which is targeted by drugs of abuse, is also very interested in unpredictable rewards. Dopamine cells are most active when there is maximum uncertainty, and the dopamine system responds more to an uncertain reward than the same reward delivered on a predictable basis."

What's more, the effect of variable rate reinforcement is very persistent. Psychologist B.F. Skinner conducted trials during the early 1930s in which he conditioned animals to respond to certain stimuli in closed chambers that became known as Skinner Boxes, and showed that even when the rewards were removed, the subject would continue responding for sometimes hundreds of trials, trying to recreate the circumstances in which it got its reward before.

"Modern video games then amplify this idea by having many overlapping variable ratio schedules," says Clark. "You're trying to level up, advance your avatar, get rare add-ons, build up game currency, all at the same time. What this means is that there is a regular trickle of some kind of reinforcement."

This design closely mirrors the near-misses in many forms of gambling, from horse racing to roulette. As psychologist Luke Clark has said, "A moderate frequency of near-misses encourages prolonged gambling, even in student volunteers who do not gamble on a regular basis. Problem gamblers often interpret near-misses as evidence that they are mastering the game and that a win is on the way."

Maybe I'm really ill, but I simply don't buy crowns for a long time (bought 10k two years ago on 50% sale and still have 3.5k), and especially never buy Crates, because I see it being stupid. Compulsion? Manipulating? Please... I buy only things I really very interested in and things I see useful. If I have any doubts - just ignore it. And I was very surprised about people who spend a lot of money just because they can't not to spend. Moreover, they spend it on unneeded things instead of something useful for themselves.

So yes, gambling is about self-control and being adult. No need to hide behind the science and deep thoughts about how human's soul and mind are complicated. Like an alcohol. So easy to drink, but not everyone can stop at the right time or say "no". Science? Drugs? Psychologically manipulative tactics? Aliens?

Hiding behind science is not a real thing. If science and facts exist to disprove your notion or indicate something is dangerous or exploitative, etc, but you desire to argue against it anyway it is up to YOU to prove it wrong not to disregard it.

Wolfkeks · December 2018

Fischblut wrote: »

Nowdays its more a curse than benefit to have expensive mounts. No one wants to see that you are financing for ZOS' inertia on fixing the game and making them focused an develop expensive and useless collectibles.

Curse is that we can't display all mounts together, only 10 max And when designers don't finish the mount (for example don't give it proper voice and sound effects) :'(

I welcome the fact that we can buy rare mounts for gems, it might mean we will get all Radiants for gems someday
I don't welcome the fact that mount can cost 600 gems and still sound like an ordinary senche...

This senche army is just amazing!

Delsanab14_ESO · December 2018

Agree that Senche group photo is amazing, though my favorites aren't there and I think one of those is a wolf.

daemonios · December 2018

Bouldercleave wrote: »

daemonios wrote: »

This has been true of microtransactions ever since they first came up.

Personally I've never bought a single crown, and the ones I get from subscribing have only gone into dlc and character slots. I refuse to validate the system further by buying cosmetics, mounts or consumables in the store.

Sadly, most people seem to think microtransactions are a valid way of paying for a game, instead of a fixed monthly amount.

How is it sad? It absolutely IS a valid way of paying for a game. It may differ from your viewpoint, but that doesn't make it any less valid. If buying crates makes you happy - buy the damn crates. If not, well don't.

What is sad is people that come here and try and belittle other people's enjoyment of the game.

With a subscription the publisher tells you that maintaining/further developing the game costs you $x/month. You can plan around that expense. $10-$15/month seems to me quite reasonable for something that I use as entertainment for many hours every month. The incentive is for the publisher to maintain the existing player base, as well as appeal to new players.

With microtransactions you get a variety of experiences, but in the case of ESO it's a bottomless pit, i.e. there is no limit to how much you can spend. There is no connection between what you pay and the cost of what you get, because you're paying for pixels/bits that cost around $0 to produce after the initial cost of developing them. The incentive is for the publisher to maximize store sales, and it does that using dubious tactics such as time-limited events, multiple-tiered currencies, random loot boxes (gambling), all in a market that they control 100%, i.e. in a monopoly. This hurts players: they pay more than they would otherwise, which is very clear since ESO wouldn't have made the switch to microtransactions to lose money, and they get a worse game, since more resources go into the crown store and actual game development isn't a priority, not to mention the fact that several mechanics have been altered over time to drive store sales.

So no, IMHO it's not a valid way of paying for a game, if by valid we can agree to mean fair, honest and transparent.

Cpt_Teemo · December 2018

sevomd69 wrote: »

Still pretty incredible that someone whom I've never met or probably will meet try to determine how I spend MY money...If it is my desire... I could be spending all my life savings snorting coke out of a hooker's belly button...and even though it may be unwise...I couldn't care less if you approve or not...because...wait for it.........

IT'S MY MONEY...

Spend your 150$ on a digital house now !

Sylvermynx · December 2018

Fischblut wrote: »

Nowdays its more a curse than benefit to have expensive mounts. No one wants to see that you are financing for ZOS' inertia on fixing the game and making them focused an develop expensive and useless collectibles.

Curse is that we can't display all mounts together, only 10 max And when designers don't finish the mount (for example don't give it proper voice and sound effects) :'(

I welcome the fact that we can buy rare mounts for gems, it might mean we will get all Radiants for gems someday
I don't welcome the fact that mount can cost 600 gems and still sound like an ordinary senche...

GREAT pic! You can line up a second group of mounts, then munge the screens together with a graphics program?

Runs · December 2018

supaskrub wrote: »

Runs wrote: »

supaskrub wrote: »

Reistr_the_Unbroken wrote: »

Honestly I don’t care either way. This is an 18+ game, why the hell are children playing it? Why the hell are you complaining about how people spend their money op? It’s not Pay 2 Win, it’s just cosmetics your getting, jeez.

Anyways I’m just waiting for those Storm Atro Crates.

Maybe laws per country are different regarding minimum player ages, here in the UK the game has a minimum advised player age of 13 (you have to accept that you are aged 13 or over under ZOS toc when you first install the game/create a new account).

The 18+ that you see on the packing and marketing is nothing more than companies acting advisory as to its contents after outside and governmental pressure in the past, more of a practice of self regulation rather than being legally imposed, it’s certainly not binding in this country as the game can be bought by an adult and gifted to a child.

If loot crates are getting looked into though with concern on exposure to children, then ZOS may well need to revise that minimum age of 13 tick box when installing the game.

TOS specifically states 18+ it has since at least 2015

Il highlight the interesting bits for you:

By using any ZeniMax Services, You affirm that (i) You are at least 18 years of age (or have reached the age of majority if that is not 18 years of age where You live) OR You have reviewed these Terms of Service with Your parent or guardian and he or she assents to these Terms of Service on Your behalf and takes full responsibility for Your compliance with them (You or Your parent or guardian assenting: "You" or "Your") AND (ii) You are a legal resident of a country where Your access to and use of the applicable Services are permitted. You represent that You are fully able and competent to enter into the terms, conditions, and representations set forth in these Terms of Service, and You agree to abide by and comply with them.

Nothing in there that prohibits a child from playing the game as the onus is passed on to a responsible adult. As I said above the 18+ on the packaging does not legally dictate the age of the person that can play the game. I could as a ‘responsible adult’ buy it for a 13 year old who is under my care and by doing that it is deemed “Implied Consent” (can have a different meaning outside of the USA) from me for the 13 year old to play the game, effectively making that part of the ToS irrelevant.

... lmao

Read my first post... the second post was directed at the 13+ or adult comment...

Tan9oSuccka · December 2018

tactx wrote: »

You're looking at it the wrong way.

Buying crates gets you a lot of items for a season a lot easier and cheaper than buying every individual item itself. So buying crates (with cash or in game gold) gets you those items and other helpful items like potions and mount books. If you get something you don't want, you can convert that into gems (other games' cash shops often don't do that at all, you're just out of luck).

Those that have been participating in crown crate seasons over time have built up gems and this is merely a reward now for those that have gems.

Sure if you absolutely have to have it and don't want anything else in the crates and haven't participated in crate seasons in the past, then yes, you have to buy a lot of crates and hope for good RNG to get the gems you need for the mount.

Why is this so hard for people to understand?

Well said.

Save them. Choose purchases wisely.

I’ve bought zero crates and I have 400 gems.

sevomd69 · December 2018

Cpt_Teemo wrote: »

sevomd69 wrote: »

Still pretty incredible that someone whom I've never met or probably will meet try to determine how I spend MY money...If it is my desire... I could be spending all my life savings snorting coke out of a hooker's belly button...and even though it may be unwise...I couldn't care less if you approve or not...because...wait for it.........

IT'S MY MONEY...

Spend your 150$ on a digital house now !

No...Not into housing...but that's my point...I would and could if I wanted...

Callous2208 · December 2018

Fischblut wrote: »

Nowdays its more a curse than benefit to have expensive mounts. No one wants to see that you are financing for ZOS' inertia on fixing the game and making them focused an develop expensive and useless collectibles.

Curse is that we can't display all mounts together, only 10 max And when designers don't finish the mount (for example don't give it proper voice and sound effects) :'(

I welcome the fact that we can buy rare mounts for gems, it might mean we will get all Radiants for gems someday
I don't welcome the fact that mount can cost 600 gems and still sound like an ordinary senche...

Lol why pour resources into making the special mount sound or look outstanding to match the price? People will buy it regardless. If I was ZoS I would release a horse with nothing special, just maybe a different color than the standard ones you get at the stables for gold. Slap a 1000 gem price tag on it or maybe 20k crowns. Put it up as limited time and watch these suckers eat it up. This generation of gamers will literally pay any price for anything as long as they think it's "exclusive" or "rare." Doesn't matter what it looks like or what functionality it has.

TheShadowScout · December 2018

Fischblut wrote: »

...am I seeing things, or DID a wolf infiltrate the senche army there?
Is it retaliation for...

FrancisCrawford · December 2018

eso_nya wrote: »

"shady"....afaik the proper term for those kind of deals is "scam".

How a scam? To be a scam, I think there would have to be a misrepresentation either of the nature of the items received if actually received (and there isn't) or of the odds of getting them.

Do they state that the odds are different than they are? Of course not; that was a rhetorical question, because they don't state odds at all.

OK. Do they imply that the odds are different than they are, without outright saying so? That was a serious question, because I could have overlooked examples, but I don't think they do so. But if I am right in thinking that they don't, then where is the scam?

Ashilda_Dragonheart · December 2018

myskyrim26 wrote: »

EphemeraCrawford wrote: »

My rules? Au contraire mon frere. The FTC has announced they're going to be investigating loot boxes. Their rules.

Are you an FTC representative? Or a child, maybe? Or cosmetics is the most important thing about ESO for you?

I can't afford 600 gems. I just don't whine about it - I'm a grown up, you know. If I don't have money for something, I just pass by.

That doesn't change the fact that the prices are over the top in the Crown Store, and the drop rates for Crown Crates are terrible. The devs also focus on the Crown Store so they can keep getting money from the game.

Glurin · December 2018

Ashilda_Dragonheart wrote: »

myskyrim26 wrote: »

EphemeraCrawford wrote: »

My rules? Au contraire mon frere. The FTC has announced they're going to be investigating loot boxes. Their rules.

Are you an FTC representative? Or a child, maybe? Or cosmetics is the most important thing about ESO for you?

I can't afford 600 gems. I just don't whine about it - I'm a grown up, you know. If I don't have money for something, I just pass by.

That doesn't change the fact that the prices are over the top in the Crown Store, and the drop rates for Crown Crates are terrible. The devs also focus on the Crown Store so they can keep getting money from the game.

And it's getting worse. Prices are going up, one way or another, while drop rates go down. 600 gem exclusive mounts are ZoS edging their toe that much more over the line.

How far away are we from going full EA and just converting to p2w lootboxes as your only practical means of character advancement? We've already got xp scrolls and potions and such in there, which aren't pay to win yet but are certainly a small step in that direction.

FlyingSwan · December 2018

It is something of a scam, but you don't have to take part. And the game is an 18, so there should be no children in the game, unless parents are being ineffective.

I've got about 40k crowns, accrued from various subs over the years, but I have never spent a single crown in the store, except for DLC when on offer. The game has the hallmarks of being prepped for F2P, so don't be a part of that process is my view.

I no longer sub at all in fact, because I think the sub is pretty worthless all said and done, but that's another matter.

iiYuki · December 2018

It’s not like you have to take part in it.

They are cosmectics, won’t alter gameplay itself at all, and are completely optional.

SHILL ALERT! SHILL ALERT! Its only cosmetic! so that makes gambling and charging insane amounts of money for reskins alright in a game we already paid £40-£100 for, plus £10-£90 for each DLC after, plus a Subscription that's optional but if you dont have it you need multiple mule accounts for crafting on, need it for the higher housing placement budget, for the double bank space if your a trader etc.
Plus with it being an MMO half the end game is showing off and what you look like, they always find time to update the store and make more reskins for the "limited time sales" but cant fix game breaking bugs and problems with the game outside weekly and monthly patches that half the time don't fix the problem anyway. You can bet if the store had a problem it would be fixed that day.

Tigerseye · December 2018

Glurin wrote: »

Ashilda_Dragonheart wrote: »

myskyrim26 wrote: »

EphemeraCrawford wrote: »

My rules? Au contraire mon frere. The FTC has announced they're going to be investigating loot boxes. Their rules.

Are you an FTC representative? Or a child, maybe? Or cosmetics is the most important thing about ESO for you?

I can't afford 600 gems. I just don't whine about it - I'm a grown up, you know. If I don't have money for something, I just pass by.

That doesn't change the fact that the prices are over the top in the Crown Store, and the drop rates for Crown Crates are terrible. The devs also focus on the Crown Store so they can keep getting money from the game.

And it's getting worse. Prices are going up, one way or another, while drop rates go down. 600 gem exclusive mounts are ZoS edging their toe that much more over the line.

How far away are we from going full EA and just converting to p2w lootboxes as your only practical means of character advancement? We've already got xp scrolls and potions and such in there, which aren't pay to win yet but are certainly a small step in that direction.

Well, yes and part of the problem is the enormous gulf between the super-rich, longterm player and the super-poor, newer one.

They seem to be pricing things assuming almost everyone has been playing solidly, for well over 4 years and so, has accrued lots of Crowns and/or gems (which they haven't spent), by now.

Which may be true for a few people, but it you only ever cater to the richest, longterm players, while ignoring/gouging the poorest newer ones, that won't end well.

I think almost everyone expects that things will be harder/more expensive to get, at first.

However, if you can never catch-up (even while playing a sub), as they just keep moving the goalposts to match the spending power of the true vets, they are creating a problem for both newer (i.e. anything less than veteran) players and themselves.

You can't create a situation where no one (who isn't very rich/reckless IRL) can ever afford the items the longest term subs can.

dodgehopper_ESO · December 2018

TheShadowScout wrote: »

EphemeraCrawford wrote: »

So now we're gambling...

Yes. Yes, we are, if we choose to spend out crowns on the gambling crates.

Hey, you also have the chance to get a super-special high-value mount with your first crown crate, yes? (of course, that only ever happens to -other- people, right?)

The only thing -I- would want is a "crown gem package" for those like me who don't like gambling (because our luck is somewhere between "bad" and "abyssal"), but still want to get some of that crown crate stuff...

I can only hear that in a Joker voice after playing DCUO.

Elsonso · December 2018

Tigerseye wrote: »

Well, yes and part of the problem is the enormous gulf between the super-rich, longterm player and the super-poor, newer one.

They seem to be pricing things assuming almost everyone has been playing solidly, for well over 4 years and so, has accrued lots of Crowns and/or gems (which they haven't spent), by now.

Which may be true for a few people, but it you only ever cater to the richest, longterm players, while ignoring/gouging the poorest newer ones, that won't end well.

It is a rather interesting statement, if true, about the nature of the player base for ESO. If there are lots of long term players, particularly ones who are hoarding Crowns and Gems, they certainly need to put stuff into the store that will help those players decide to spend that stuff.

I am not exactly getting the class envy angle, though. New player vs long time player. There are things in the store that new players can purchase. New players can also purchase Crowns. We just had a wonderful sale at the end of November that really allowed new players, and limited Crown players, to purchase a lot of items that they might want. So ZOS puts something in the game that is not targeting new players. Not every sale, nor every promotion, needs to target every player.

That said, these Gem Only items are the evil spawn of an evil product; there is no doubting that. They do not exclude new players, though. Even new players can buy Crown Crates for Gems, like good little players. They can buy the Gem Only items. Of course, they shouldn't be doing that, but they can.

As for the limited Crown players, well, this is not a cheap game. Never has been. Never will be. While it can be played for free, after the initial purchase, one has to be satisfied with the table scraps that the game hands out to them. It is possible to be satisfied. ZOS has not yet made it so that free and limited Crown players are at a real disadvantage when playing the game, only when outfitting characters.

O_LYKOS · December 2018

Maybe you don’t buy any more crates then? Is it really that hard of of issue to overcome?

Pops_ND_Irish · December 2018

Another one ? When will it stop ?
Just like weeds, you get rid of them and they keep popping up !

Tommy_The_Gun · December 2018

myskyrim26 wrote: »

@EphemeraCrawford
Nobody is forcing you to take part in any activities that you don't like.

It is not about forcing any one to buy or not buy crates.
It is about exploiting people who have gambling problem / addiction. And yes - there are places in real world that do so (casinos, lotteries etc.). The difference is those who do this in RL have to pay additional bills, taxes, and are affected by various regulations that governments of almost all countries in the world provide to protect against scam & various frauds. Not to mention those RL "lotteries" or "casinos" have to be registered in order to be legal and they undergo routine checks & controls. So they are still in a risk - and if something goes wrong - they have to pay a huge financial penalty.
Video games market so far have been ignored simply because law in various countries simply did not catch up with technology.

HowlKimchi · December 2018

While I agree that a company needs money, and that ZOS's constant release of new content is wonderful and made possible with partly due to the crown crates, I wish we didnt have to gamble for anything, even if it's just cosmetics. It doesn't feel good as a consumer.

Ostacia · December 2018

It's like there's a fine line between being our brother's keeper and free will. An argument since time immemorial.

Kiralyn2000 · December 2018

iiYuki wrote: »

It’s not like you have to take part in it.

They are cosmectics, won’t alter gameplay itself at all, and are completely optional.

SHILL ALERT! SHILL ALERT! Its only cosmetic! so that makes gambling and charging insane amounts of money for reskins alright in a game we already paid £40-£100 for, plus £10-£90 for each DLC after, plus a Subscription that's optional but if you dont have it you need multiple mule accounts for crafting on,

1) Yes, the fact it's cosmetic and totally un-needed makes it fine. Unlike the games that have stuff you actually do need for sale.

2) You don't remotely need multiple accounts to craft without ESO+. Yes, you need to level your bank up, and having some alts with skilled-up riding capacity helps, but it still works. The periodic "free ESO+" trials help, because it means that you can shove all the crafting mats that have stored up since the last time, into the crafting bag.
(yes, I craft. yes, I've got lots of materials. No, I don't have multiple accounts, heck I'm not even using all the original 8 character slots.)