How out of touch with the ESO community is ZOS?

Let’s start with everyone’s most anticipated update: jewelry crafting! Everyone in the game looked forward to jewelry crafting. Everyone even dreamed of being able to “gold-out” all their purple rings and necklaces, but how feasible is this actually? It’s practically impossible. This is in large part thanks to the ridiculous, unchecked economy that ZOS allows to flourish.

Finding a “white” deal range is practically non-existent. Chromium grains, according to Master Merchant, have a median price of approximately 7613.70 as of March 13, 2019. This means, at the current rate, which hasn’t really dropped at all since release, up-grading three purple items to gold will cost approximately 1.80M. This simply not feasible for the majority of players on ESO. Top guilds, top traders, and hard core trials grinders can afford this, but for the most part, everyone else in game simply cannot.

Of course, the current mark-up for chromium grains is sitting at over 8k. Chromium plating is averaging approximately 82.5K a piece. If a player is simply questing, doing dungeons, and trying to learn trials, when do they really have time to make that much money when it’s simply not built into the game?

The nice thing about provision traders and enchanting traders etc., is that certain ingredients have a bottom line cost, so at least when the market starts price gouging, you can always run to the store where it’s practical to at least pay an established and unchanging price. If I want to experience market fluctuations, I’ll simply look at my 401K and be thankful that my company actually provides a pension.

Now I’m sure there will be arguments for and against the pricing of chromium, but let’s put this into perspective. For instance, I’m looking at various jewelry crafting writs in my inventory. Now, I also remember when crafting writs were nice. You performed a task, and you were rewarded. Surveys were plentiful. It was a way that at least ensured materials were available for crafting gear while on the road of the ever treacherous grind, but ZOS took those drop rates away. Crafting viable gear sets is almost a thing of the set unless you’re entirely new to the game. Twice Born Star, the once ultimate nine trait set, which everyone grinded to achieve is practically worthless.

How about being able to craft perfected gear? Of course, no one wants even a tenured quester to be able to do that! Heaven forbid. They might actually feel good about wearing really cool gear even though they’ll probably never use it in a dungeon or trial. Anyway, I digress.

Given the general cost of chromium, why would anyone in their right mind use the materials to fulfill a legendary crafting writ, that Is, of course, unless you happen to be a guild or top trader? It’s simply not feasible. More practical, it’s illogical. How does ZOS even come up with the jewelry writ reward valuations? For instance, a Legendary Bloodthirsty Night Mother’s Gaze necklace rewards 269 writ vouchers; on the other hand, a Legendary Triune Hunding’s Rage necklace rewards 108. And if you guessed that I’m going to quote the price of those materials, go ahead an pat yourself on the back!

Apparently I have 44 slaughterstones. Master Merchant prices these at 1431.16 each. None of the guild traders in Rawl-Kha, Deshaan, or Stormhaven had any Dawn-Prism for sale. So what does this mean? I suppose there are a couple take aways: 1) dawn-prism appears to be more rare than slaughterstone, 2) ZOS rewards more for less rare items. To try to show some perspective, bloodthirsty jewelry sells for approximately 3800, whereas triune is selling for approximately 16.7k, but is marked up by about 15-18.5%. I’ll let you do the math on that one. Either way, it seems this big bat etched with the phrase “ZOS is so out of touch” keeps pounding me in the head and for the life of me, it just doesn’t seem to stop.

I took a break from this game when my toons started getting gutted, and grinding (not playing) became the essence of this game. I recently came back to what seems more futility. I need to change traits, which can only be accomplished by further grinding. Put'em in the store, I'll buy'em with real money (I've got plenty of it. I simply don't have time for ZOS's joy ride). I’ll never forget finally grinding to vet 14, only to learn that it was being extended to 16. The sense of accomplishment went out the window and ever since, it’s been a non-stop grind to get the supposed “next best idea by someone at ZOS,” when realistically, not so much.

The sound and the animation that the ”best in slot” elemental weapon makes is absolutely ridiculous. Come on, really? Is that the best someone could come up with in the span of an hour conference call? “Yeah…we’ll make it sound like the squeaking if the Tin man, but he ain’t getting no oil! (HAHAHA).”

It’s literally years later. Why is there still a difference in which character class out-parses the next? Why is there a “highest” dps for one specific class? Why don’t each of the classes have fairly the same output and survivability as the next class? Uniqueness should come in terms of animations. That Fire is BiS over Lightning is absolutely ridiculous. If we’re talking math, it’s simply a matter of adjusting the numbers. It can be done!

Sets should be completely interchangeable with little, if any, difference to total numbers output. Zaan will be BiS ‘til ZOS decides to supersede it. Why is it the Spawn of Mephala monster set is relegated to practically useless? That's right: heavy attacks are useless ("hey man, that ain't 'meta' no more, yo!). That is, of course, besides someone at ZOS being encouraged to have a “brilliant idea” and apparently everyone else in the room was outranked and couldn’t challenge the idea of merit alone without fear of losing their livelihoods.

ZOS is a business. They’re making money for retired sports players and business men who simply want the ESO community to invest in computerized virtual nothingness, not that anything can be taken to the grave anyway. It’s sad. And again, I digress.