To begin, I want to write how I have heard and read complaints about the monetized micro-transactions of MMO’s and gaming at large. Lately there is a huge outpouring over the 600 Crown Gem cost for the new Ice Sabre mount. I want to say YES, gambling systems like Crown Crates are a way to purposely drain players of cash and make money for ZOS. On a certain level they do promote gambling and target compulsive behavior and even on a smaller scale hurt or prey on gambling addicts. YES even more, there is concern and a moral dilemma of filling video games, a market that is youth oriented, youth targeted, and youth supported with adult gambling practices and duping marketing schemes. These are valid complaints and worries, of which some governments are now taking notice, investigating, banning, etcetera. Yes, this game is rated M for Mature meaning ADULT; however, game ratings are not enforced and can easily be purchased through digital means without any age verification needed.

The new Gem Exclusive cost has taken this to a new level. You now spend real money for a fake currency (Crowns) and then use these Crowns to then buy RNG based gambling chances (Crates) in hopes of NOT getting actual Crate items but low items you can cash in or repeats of what you already have, THEN TURN these items BACK into a SECOND Fake Currency (Crown Gems) so you can buy The Ice Sabre or Frost Pixie. Thus, you are now using 2 fake currencies and removing the cost of the item 3 times from real world money AND basing the 2nd currency off RNG (Random Chance), meaning there is no true exchange rate. There is a third layer of animosity over the fact that “micro-transactions” are arguably not micro at all. With a single home costing upwards of $100 US Dollars, and simple game adds like Merchant and Banker are $50 or so and such. Meaning these in-game “micro-transactions,” cost much much more than the game itself and have no business being termed as micro.

Lastly there is the counter argument that ESO is still a better game and ZOS a better company, no matter how they set up their In-Game cash shop because they only sale cosmetics, and convenience items. Nothing here truly impacts the game or the player base in any real way and thus they can charge whatever they wish, and players can choose to purchase or not while still maintain the same level of competition when playing. It keeps going in circles because people come back and further argue, that cosmetics are an integral part of ESO, especially it being one of the most diversely customizable games on the market. And so no one so far has won this battle, save for the money ZOS continues to collect.


Even with all the above said, ZOS has taken notice of complaints it seems. They even sent out surveys on the crown store. It was argued that the items are too expensive and too much attached to RNG and that 80% of cosmetics come from the store and can’t be obtained in game. This was one of the largest complaints, that IN-GAME achievements, quests, grinds, awards, etcetera didn’t reward you with even close to what can be purchased nor of the same level and quality of the purchased counterpart.

ZOS seemed to have listened to this and 2018, saw little change in the Crown Store itself, but A LARGE change in what a player could obtain and achieve in-game, and very few seem to be giving ZOS any credit for this but instead JUST COMPLAIN ABOUT THE CROWN STORE. Compared to past years, ZOS has given a lot of free and cool cosmetic items. Many come from Holiday Events, Achievement Rewards, FREE Crown Crates themselves, and a whole NEW Daily Rewards system just for logging in and continuing to be a loyal ESO player as well as a NEW leveling system.
As I can recall, here is a compiled list of NON-RNG (Random Chance) Guaranteed free items for this year:
WARNING: I do not recall the exact names for the items.

Pets (11):

• Black Fox (Daily Reward)
• Black Cat (Daily Reward)
• Psijic Guar (Which has the cutest animations ever for a pet) (Daily Reward)
• Psijic Cub (Daily Reward)
• Psijic Pony (Summerfall Event; Summerset Expansion Required)
• Miniature Chudan (Technically a Daily Reward once Murkmire was earned and you entered it)
• Flame Atronach Wolf (For EVERYONE who watched Bethesda Twitch Stream on any platform)
• Yellow Dog (Choice when leveling 1st or 2nd character with New Leveling System)
• House Cat (Choice when leveling 1st or 2nd character with New Leveling System)

Mounts (5):

• Nascent Indrik* (Holiday Events)
• Glowgil Guar (December Daily Rewards)
• Snow Wolf Mount (PC only for watching Bethesda Twitch Stream)
• Sorrel Horse (New Leveling System)
• Psijic Horse (Summerfall Event; Summerset Expansion Required)

Houses (1):

• Grand Psijic Villa (Notable Home, arguably, one of the best houses available in-game currently) (Summerfall Event; Summerset Expansion Required)

DLC (1):

• Murkmire (Daily Reward)

Crown Crates (34):

• 3 x Scalecaller (Daily Reward)
• 10 x Psijic (Daily Reward)
• 2 x Wild Hunt (Daily Reward)
• 10 x Dwarven (Daily Reward)
• 6 x Reaper's Harvest (Daily Reward)
• 3 x Fire Atronach (Leveling reward system)

Costume (6):

• Skald's Damask Jerkin (Daily Reward)
• New Life Monk's Cap (December Daily Reward)
• New Life Festival Cap (December Daily Reward)
• Lion Guard Knight (Choice when leveling 1st, 2nd, or 3rd character with leveling system)
• Covenant Scout (Choice when leveling 1st, 2nd, or 3rd character with leveling system)
• Mages Guild Formal Robes (Choice when leveling 1st, 2nd, or 3rd character with leveling system.

Motif (1):

• Prisoner’s Rags (Leveling System)

Crown Only Items

• Scrolls, food, potions and poisons, outfit change tokens, etcetera. Small less desired items, but items still found normally only if purchased through Crown Store and Crown Crates.

AGAIN, THIS LIST WAS GUARANTEED to players that simply qualified.
If you then add on top items that had to be farmed through RNG, but were still free it FURTHER INCLUDES:

• Purple Netch, from Murkmire prologue quest.
• Undaunted event items: pets, mounts, houses, and the 130 mounts pack (Which I do not know if anyone got).
• Fanged Worm, Horned Dragon, Pit Daemons, Storm Lord and Fire Drakes style pages available in Battlegrounds.
• Twitch Crates, (PC ONLY) and its pet and mount. Crates are given by just watching streamers in specific dates.
• Monster Head and Shoulder pieces, for one specific dungeon in each month. (Except from Molag Kena, all others were available with the base game)
• AND one skin, CrystalFrost. (I have no info in the drop rate for this event. I got it doing all nine dailies 9 times, my husband needed to do 16 times and a guildmate needed to do 40 times.)

* IF you have been able to login EVERY SINGLE day during the events, you were able to acquire 80 event tickets. So technically, by the end of New Life Festival, you can have enough for TWO Indriks mounts. And both can be evolved in the future after ZOS enable the berries.

ALL OF THIS IS FREE WITH BASE GAME. NO EXTRA OUT OF POCKET EXPENSE. PLUS, IF YOU DON'T SUBSCRIBE TO ESO PLUS, YOU TOOK ADVANTAGE OF FREE TO PLAY IN ALL DLCs! Most of which grants costumes, skins, personalities, etc. ALL of this in just 1 year. 1 YEAR! And does not include anything that was already in-game or could be collected previously, and ONLY the Summerset Expansion ACTUALLY required ANY out-of-pocket expense to obtain!

We have to look at the big picture: ZOS has been releasing content after content that is crown exclusive only. But in the other hand, ZOS has given for free, month after month, exclusive items that we did not get before. If you actually add the average normal cost of these items if sold instead through the Crown store, it is far more than the cost to obtain the CrystalFrost Senche. It also gave players a whole list of individual options to individualize their characters for free.

As they say, no charge to have a look. But there is cost to buying.