Crown Store and the rising costs of digital goods.

ACESsiggy · January 2020

Has anyone at ESO looked into the rising costs of digital items within the game? I don't think I can recall a single game that requires a staggering 40$ for a single armor style or 40$ for a single pet. Are people truly spending money on these digital items or are majority of sales coming from ESO plus membership?

Easily_Lost · January 2020

I am sure a lot of them are from ESO+,
Also I never pay full price for Crowns. I stock up on them when they are on sale.

HappyLittleTree · January 2020

ACESsiggy wrote: »

Has anyone at ESO looked into the rising costs of digital items within the game? I don't think I can recall a single game that requires a staggering 40$ for a single armor style or 40$ for a single pet. Are people truly spending money on these digital items or are majority of sales coming from ESO plus membership?

I think only a few lazy people pay for armor styles. (Edit: not saying it is bad per se, if have the money but not the time go for it, whatever floats your boat

)

i for one won't pay for stuff when there's the possibility to earn it for free or just pay with IG currency in guild stores

snoozy · January 2020

i agree, a lot of it is absurdly overpriced. especially the houses. (looking at you, hunter's glade

)

i usually buy stuff with my eso+ crowns or i buy crowns for gold, which is really easy to come by.

but sadly there are enough people willing to pay those absurd prices, otherwise zos wouldn't continue like that

Brandathorbel · January 2020

ACESsiggy wrote: »

Has anyone at ESO looked into the rising costs of digital items within the game? I don't think I can recall a single game that requires a staggering 40$ for a single armor style or 40$ for a single pet. Are people truly spending money on these digital items or are majority of sales coming from ESO plus membership?

sad thing is, if they dropped the Price to $10 they would probably sell 5-10 times as many and make more money. Same goes for housing. Housing is a gateway to buying more stuff. But because of the stupid prices, less people buy which makes Zos less money in the long run. More money people spend in the game, more likely they will stay longer.

They just are not that great at making business decisions. I honestly don't think they have any marketing research being done at all. Hopefully that changes one day.

ACESsiggy · January 2020

That's what I feel. As some of you stated mjority of sales are coming from ESO + members. I think they should reduce the crowns for plus members and the cost of items items in the eso store. It just feels out of the normal with other games and common sense pricing in general.

Maybe this might generate more people 'willing and able' to purchase more crowns out of pocket rather than relying on ESO+ purchases.

Gnortranermara · January 2020

xbobx15 wrote: »

sad thing is, if they dropped the Price to $10 they would probably sell 5-10 times as many and make more money.

Yep. The marketing department is 100% out of touch with reality. Not only are they criminally insane when it comes to pricing, they're not even offering dozens of requested items that ES fans are practically begging to buy. Exploiting addicted gamblers must be working out well enough that they don't have to bother actually serving customer desires.

Nord_Raseri · January 2020

ACESsiggy wrote: »

That's what I feel. As some of you stated mjority of sales are coming from ESO + members. I think they should reduce the crowns for plus members and the cost of items items in the eso store. It just feels out of the normal with other games and common sense pricing in general.

Maybe this might generate more people 'willing and able' to purchase more crowns out of pocket rather than relying on ESO+ purchases.

Reduce anything we pay for as Eso+ subscribers would likely cause more people to drop subscriptions. How is taking away things from other people your solution?

Hallothiel · January 2020

ACESsiggy wrote: »

That's what I feel. As some of you stated mjority of sales are coming from ESO + members. I think they should reduce the crowns for plus members and the cost of items items in the eso store. It just feels out of the normal with other games and common sense pricing in general.

Maybe this might generate more people 'willing and able' to purchase more crowns out of pocket rather than relying on ESO+ purchases.

Um no.

Not the reduction in crowns for subscriptions bit.

But agree with reduction of price of items in crown store.

idk · January 2020

I thought most of those armoring styles were available in game for free or gold for those who do not have the time to farm? Why is anyone even thinking of buying them from the cash shop.

Seriously, do not waste your money on what you can get in game.

Yes, I am aware there are a very small number of armor styles available during specific events that are Crown Store exclusives but they are less expensive iirc.

Unseelie · January 2020

Every game has a cash store. FFXIV has the Mog Store, Blizzard has theirs, and ESO has theirs. All are expensive because they are for a certain market. You do not have to have anything from the store , none of it is required. You WANT it.
Most armor sets can even be found in game, the crown store just gives you a faster option if you value time over money.
Things go on sale all of the time, you just have to pay attention but yet again it is all optional and none of it do you need.

ACESsiggy · January 2020

idk wrote: »

I thought most of those armoring styles were available in game for free or gold for those who do not have the time to farm? Why is anyone even thinking of buying them from the cash shop.

Seriously, do not waste your money on what you can get in game.

Yes, I am aware there are a very small number of armor styles available during specific events that are Crown Store exclusives but they are less expensive iirc.

This armor style was an example of the prices in the store in general. With all things considered … its a whelp.

nafensoriel · January 2020

xbobx15 wrote: »

ACESsiggy wrote: »

Has anyone at ESO looked into the rising costs of digital items within the game? I don't think I can recall a single game that requires a staggering 40$ for a single armor style or 40$ for a single pet. Are people truly spending money on these digital items or are majority of sales coming from ESO plus membership?

sad thing is, if they dropped the Price to $10 they would probably sell 5-10 times as many and make more money. Same goes for housing. Housing is a gateway to buying more stuff. But because of the stupid prices, less people buy which makes Zos less money in the long wrong. More money people spend in the game, more likely they will stay longer.

They just are not that great at making business decisions. I honestly don't think they have any marketing research being done at all. Hopefully that changes one day.

Path of Exiles did this with mixed success.
Technically IIRC their bigger priced items actually made them the most money but they did sell a crapton of smaller things.

Really you need a hybrid system. Make cheap stuff like a recolored spell for pennies and someone will consider 40-100 bucks for a really lovingly crafted high-end mount.

DMuehlhausen · January 2020

ACESsiggy wrote: »

Has anyone at ESO looked into the rising costs of digital items within the game? I don't think I can recall a single game that requires a staggering 40$ for a single armor style or 40$ for a single pet. Are people truly spending money on these digital items or are majority of sales coming from ESO plus membership?

I normally just wait till I get enough from ESO+, unless it's ending before I'll have enough. Though last night I spent the 39.99 for the 5500 crowns for the Legion Zero Mount.

Unseelie · January 2020

xbobx15 wrote: »

ACESsiggy wrote: »

Has anyone at ESO looked into the rising costs of digital items within the game? I don't think I can recall a single game that requires a staggering 40$ for a single armor style or 40$ for a single pet. Are people truly spending money on these digital items or are majority of sales coming from ESO plus membership?

sad thing is, if they dropped the Price to $10 they would probably sell 5-10 times as many and make more money. Same goes for housing. Housing is a gateway to buying more stuff. But because of the stupid prices, less people buy which makes Zos less money in the long wrong. More money people spend in the game, more likely they will stay longer.

They just are not that great at making business decisions. I honestly don't think they have any marketing research being done at all. Hopefully that changes one day.

Dropping the price would not get more sales, because the people that want the things will pay what is there and move on. The largest percentage of people complaining will never be satisfied unless things are handed to them or free.
Crowns are easier than ever to get these days with being able to buy them for gold in game.

Veinblood1965 · January 2020

People will spend the money. I recall in everquest there was a 23 year old who was worth 10 million dollars just from selling items and gold. I won't name the name just I do know this first hand. A Santa Claus suit of Armor sold for $10,000 so yes people do buy crazy things with their money.

AlnilamE · January 2020

I don't buy motifs from the store, especially if they available in game.

xaraan · January 2020

Crown stuff is so expensive because of how much it costs them to store it all in the digital warehouse.

Lucious90 · January 2020

Unseelie wrote: »

xbobx15 wrote: »

ACESsiggy wrote: »

Has anyone at ESO looked into the rising costs of digital items within the game? I don't think I can recall a single game that requires a staggering 40$ for a single armor style or 40$ for a single pet. Are people truly spending money on these digital items or are majority of sales coming from ESO plus membership?

sad thing is, if they dropped the Price to $10 they would probably sell 5-10 times as many and make more money. Same goes for housing. Housing is a gateway to buying more stuff. But because of the stupid prices, less people buy which makes Zos less money in the long wrong. More money people spend in the game, more likely they will stay longer.

They just are not that great at making business decisions. I honestly don't think they have any marketing research being done at all. Hopefully that changes one day.

Dropping the price would not get more sales, because the people that want the things will pay what is there and move on. The largest percentage of people complaining will never be satisfied unless things are handed to them or free.
Crowns are easier than ever to get these days with being able to buy them for gold in game.

There does come a point where pricing does hit a resistance level regardless of what people want.
want to make more money? ESO + membership discounts on crown store purchases, people love bargains, Im spending 15 a month and you're going to give me a discount to actually use my crowns?

Unseelie · January 2020

Lucious90 wrote: »

Unseelie wrote: »

xbobx15 wrote: »

ACESsiggy wrote: »

Has anyone at ESO looked into the rising costs of digital items within the game? I don't think I can recall a single game that requires a staggering 40$ for a single armor style or 40$ for a single pet. Are people truly spending money on these digital items or are majority of sales coming from ESO plus membership?

sad thing is, if they dropped the Price to $10 they would probably sell 5-10 times as many and make more money. Same goes for housing. Housing is a gateway to buying more stuff. But because of the stupid prices, less people buy which makes Zos less money in the long wrong. More money people spend in the game, more likely they will stay longer.

They just are not that great at making business decisions. I honestly don't think they have any marketing research being done at all. Hopefully that changes one day.

Dropping the price would not get more sales, because the people that want the things will pay what is there and move on. The largest percentage of people complaining will never be satisfied unless things are handed to them or free.
Crowns are easier than ever to get these days with being able to buy them for gold in game.

There does come a point where pricing does hit a resistance level regardless of what people want.
want to make more money? ESO + membership discounts on crown store purchases, people love bargains, Im spending 15 a month and you're going to give me a discount to actually use my crowns?

I do like the idea of ESO+ members getting like 10% off of crowns or something along those lines.
The problem is that I stand by my take that a large number of people that are complaining about the prices will not be satisfied with discounts because it will never be low enough.
We have a thread of people complaining that it is too much effort to click a button to get free daily rewards. Free. Just click a button. Still too much.
Zos can not win.

Acrolas · January 2020

I'd argue that relative to everything else I tend to consume, video gaming has had some of the most consistent and inflation-resistant pricing. Even within same product.

A few items scale to intended scarcity - a lot of people complained about the Welkynar motif's pricing, but it's an order of eight individuals, four core members and up to four apprentices. It wasn't supposed to be easy to acquire. But a lot of today's pricing reflect the pricing from when the crown store first opened. It's easy to predict about how much any new item will cost. If rising costs were a true concern, there would be a lot more uncertainty. I can't say I've ever been taken by surprise by what a crown store item costs.

And I just refuse to judge people for how they spend their money on what they enjoy. I don't buy $300 soccer boots and $100 soccer balls to get noticed or support something. I buy them because I love the sport. If you love ESO, buy what you want. Even if other people feel it's irrational. It's not their job to enjoy it. It's yours.

Hellvlad · January 2020

Unseelie wrote: »

Dropping the price would not get more sales, because the people that want the things will pay what is there and move on. The largest percentage of people complaining will never be satisfied unless things are handed to them or free.
Crowns are easier than ever to get these days with being able to buy them for gold in game.

If it's cheaper maybe more people will want it? no? And what about people who want it but are reasonable with their budgets and don't buy them because they consider the said item to be too expensive? It's well known, Black Friday does not generate more revenue, because people who want the stuff have bought it anyway. Economics 101

Everyone playing ESO likes the game to some extend or won't be here else. So if a majority of people complains right now about the prices, it's because of the high cost, not because they want it for free ( heck, for a game where you pay the game + yearly chapters + monthly sub, I don't call it free anymore, far from it)

It does not matter how you obtain your Crowns, as long as they are sold for the same amount in real world currency, they are worth the same. Paying with in game gold through a trade system is irrelevant and does not reflect the actual value of your Crowns.

Spending hundreds on an account that does not belong to you and on digital pixels is baffling me. But I must be too old to understand surely. Back in my days games were coming out on Floppy Disks / CDs , and were getting 1 expansion 1 year later, and everything was included. Even MMOs didn't had micro-transactions 10 years ago.

Prices are outrageously high. No wonder I will not by any of it. The way I see it, if you can get a full indie game on Steam for 20€ that will get you about 50 hours of game-play, a small cosmetic like a mount or a house should not cost you more than 3 to 5€. Because you just rent them. One day ESO will shut down and you will lose everything.

But apparently there are people happy enough to go around with these prices. Well, I have chose from long ago to put my money somewhere else, and buy stuff I enjoy and does not rely on a company-run server. To make it clear,. I could afford any crown store item. I jost won't buy them for their current price, I have better value for my money on other entertainment products.

Pauls · January 2020

Think about people who buy crown soul gems, vamp and ww bites and cures.

Kagukan · January 2020

Some things in the crown store are just too much to justify and I buy 6 month ESO+ subs.

idk · January 2020

ACESsiggy wrote: »

idk wrote: »

I thought most of those armoring styles were available in game for free or gold for those who do not have the time to farm? Why is anyone even thinking of buying them from the cash shop.

Seriously, do not waste your money on what you can get in game.

Yes, I am aware there are a very small number of armor styles available during specific events that are Crown Store exclusives but they are less expensive iirc.

This armor style was an example of the prices in the store in general. With all things considered … its a whelp.

Ahh. Probably not the best example to use as I pointed out.

Edit: accidently saved the post early.

Yes, I do see motif prices have increased slightly. They had topped out at 5k crowns for awhile and I see Zos added one for 6 k crowns. When looking at costumes I see they are as low as 500 and most are at or below 1k so that is not bad. Most mounts I saw with a quick look were 2k crowns or less. That does not seem to be much of an increase and both areas are collections so we do not have to buy them per character.

Regardless, we can all live without all that. There is a lot in game we can obtain game and I suggest voting with ones wallet if they do not like the price. That is the best course of action because we tell Zos the price is right in a voice much louder than these forums when we buy the items. Zos has no reason to head these threads if the items are selling well. Not arguing, just pointing out the reality of business. I wish Ferraris sold for less. I vote with my wallet and wait for the prices to come down.

randomkeyhits · January 2020

Lucious90 wrote: »

Unseelie wrote: »

xbobx15 wrote: »

ACESsiggy wrote: »

Has anyone at ESO looked into the rising costs of digital items within the game? I don't think I can recall a single game that requires a staggering 40$ for a single armor style or 40$ for a single pet. Are people truly spending money on these digital items or are majority of sales coming from ESO plus membership?

sad thing is, if they dropped the Price to $10 they would probably sell 5-10 times as many and make more money. Same goes for housing. Housing is a gateway to buying more stuff. But because of the stupid prices, less people buy which makes Zos less money in the long wrong. More money people spend in the game, more likely they will stay longer.

They just are not that great at making business decisions. I honestly don't think they have any marketing research being done at all. Hopefully that changes one day.

Dropping the price would not get more sales, because the people that want the things will pay what is there and move on. The largest percentage of people complaining will never be satisfied unless things are handed to them or free.
Crowns are easier than ever to get these days with being able to buy them for gold in game.

There does come a point where pricing does hit a resistance level regardless of what people want.
want to make more money? ESO + membership discounts on crown store purchases, people love bargains, Im spending 15 a month and you're going to give me a discount to actually use my crowns?

I hit this resistance level a long time ago. Got plenty of crowns in the bank and any sub just adds to the pile. Most purchases in the last year have been when something has been on sale and I've felt I can justify the cost. I look at the crown cost, convert to pounds and usually just laugh and close the crown store.

If the pricing were at a sane level I'd have spend the crowns and purchased more by now.

Unseelie · January 2020

idk wrote: »

ACESsiggy wrote: »

idk wrote: »

I thought most of those armoring styles were available in game for free or gold for those who do not have the time to farm? Why is anyone even thinking of buying them from the cash shop.

Seriously, do not waste your money on what you can get in game.

Yes, I am aware there are a very small number of armor styles available during specific events that are Crown Store exclusives but they are less expensive iirc.

This armor style was an example of the prices in the store in general. With all things considered … its a whelp.

Ahh. Probably not the best example to use as I pointed out.

Edit: accidently saved the post early.

Yes, I do see motif prices have increased slightly. They had topped out at 5k crowns for awhile and I see Zos added one for 6 k crowns. When looking at costumes I see they are as low as 500 and most are at or below 1k so that is not bad. Most mounts I saw with a quick look were 2k crowns or less. That does not seem to be much of an increase and both areas are collections so we do not have to buy them per character.

Regardless, we can all live without all that. There is a lot in game we can obtain game and I suggest voting with ones wallet if they do not like the price. That is the best course of action because we tell Zos the price is right in a voice much louder than these forums when we buy the items. Zos has no reason to head these threads if the items are selling well. Not arguing, just pointing out the reality of business. I wish Ferraris sold for less. I vote with my wallet and wait for the prices to come down.

Devil's advocate, I believe that things that can be picked up in game and sold in game like Motif and styles are priced higher on purpose, and that is so that it does not hurt the in game market. If something is available in game, it should in my opinion be priced higher in crowns so that people are more inclined to check guild vendors and so it does not hurt the in game economy.

Brandathorbel · January 2020

nafensoriel wrote: »

xbobx15 wrote: »

ACESsiggy wrote: »

Has anyone at ESO looked into the rising costs of digital items within the game? I don't think I can recall a single game that requires a staggering 40$ for a single armor style or 40$ for a single pet. Are people truly spending money on these digital items or are majority of sales coming from ESO plus membership?

sad thing is, if they dropped the Price to $10 they would probably sell 5-10 times as many and make more money. Same goes for housing. Housing is a gateway to buying more stuff. But because of the stupid prices, less people buy which makes Zos less money in the long wrong. More money people spend in the game, more likely they will stay longer.

They just are not that great at making business decisions. I honestly don't think they have any marketing research being done at all. Hopefully that changes one day.

Path of Exiles did this with mixed success.
Technically IIRC their bigger priced items actually made them the most money but they did sell a crapton of smaller things.

Really you need a hybrid system. Make cheap stuff like a recolored spell for pennies and someone will consider 40-100 bucks for a really lovingly crafted high-end mount.

Path of Exiles is one of the few games that do things right. No cost, no sub, restrictions if i recall are very few if none, and the money they get are from cash stops.

with ESO, there is a huge cost upfront which is overpriced, then eso+ so they can afford to drop prices to gain more traction in the game.

furiouslog · January 2020

xbobx15 wrote: »

ACESsiggy wrote: »

Has anyone at ESO looked into the rising costs of digital items within the game? I don't think I can recall a single game that requires a staggering 40$ for a single armor style or 40$ for a single pet. Are people truly spending money on these digital items or are majority of sales coming from ESO plus membership?

sad thing is, if they dropped the Price to $10 they would probably sell 5-10 times as many and make more money. Same goes for housing. Housing is a gateway to buying more stuff. But because of the stupid prices, less people buy which makes Zos less money in the long wrong. More money people spend in the game, more likely they will stay longer.

They just are not that great at making business decisions. I honestly don't think they have any marketing research being done at all. Hopefully that changes one day.

I'm almost certain that they do marketing research on their CS sales. It's a multi-billion dollar company.

I know people in my guilds that have spent quite a lot in the crown store. I personally have, over time. The customers who want prices of premium digital items to be lower are just not at the right point on the supply and demand curve, and can not imagine how someone would be willing to pay X crowns for a particular house or a mount. If there were not an adequate paying supply of consumers for a particular asset, ZOS will put it on sale, or write it down and learn from it.

There are digital manufacturing costs for these assets. A house needs to be designed and programmed, so ZOS has up front investment costs to get that done. ZOS also pays maintenance costs because each house is instanced and stored per player, and those assets also need to be QA'd and managed when there is an update. You don't pay an increased maintenance fee for that - it's in the cost of purchase.

Some items are priced high because they are meant to be rare and desirable. I don't want a yacht, but I get why many people do even when they can't afford them. Do we picket the yacht manufacturers when they set exorbitant prices for their goods? No, because we understand the manufacturing costs of these items, and we know that they are wants, not needs. Everything in ESO itself is by definition a want, because it is a game. Therefore, pricing is purely a matter of optimization given your consumer base.

The Craglorn Arena is on sale right now. I wanted it before, but bought it now due to an increase in my personal interest in dueling and PvP, and because the price was acceptable given the fact that I stocked up on crowns during the holiday sale. You propose that ZOS should choose to sell that house for 1000-2000 crowns instead of 12000 - more people would buy the house, but would enough buy the house to maximize their ROI relative relative to the increase in the number of consumers willing to purchase at that price? Lowering the price would reduce the value of the "brand" of the house thereby making it less desirable, and it would saturate the market, which would require them to work harder to put out more content of similar quality to maintain revenue. By keeping prices at a higher point, they will get comparable revenue today, with additional future revenue they would not have otherwise captured due to the home's rarity and desirability, which keeps people continuing to play and subscribe to "save" for these items.

So, on the contrary, I think they have done their research. They have years of clean, explicit data on which people buy what and when. It is child's play for them to calculate accurate pricing and plan product timing to predict and drive the consumer behaviors they want. Ultimately, the fact that you are on here complaining about the price being too high means that you want the thing they have, you just don't want to pay for it. I know people who felt the same way about a CS offering and eventually caved in. You might have occasionally caved in too, or maybe you have never felt any of it was worth your money, but you still want it anyway. All of that means that they are probably doing their job pretty well.

Brandathorbel · January 2020

Pauls wrote: »

Think about people who buy crown soul gems, vamp and ww bites and cures.

i would love to see stats on the crown store just to see if anyone has ever bought the cures.

Brandathorbel · January 2020

Lucious90 wrote: »

Unseelie wrote: »

xbobx15 wrote: »

ACESsiggy wrote: »

Has anyone at ESO looked into the rising costs of digital items within the game? I don't think I can recall a single game that requires a staggering 40$ for a single armor style or 40$ for a single pet. Are people truly spending money on these digital items or are majority of sales coming from ESO plus membership?

sad thing is, if they dropped the Price to $10 they would probably sell 5-10 times as many and make more money. Same goes for housing. Housing is a gateway to buying more stuff. But because of the stupid prices, less people buy which makes Zos less money in the long wrong. More money people spend in the game, more likely they will stay longer.

They just are not that great at making business decisions. I honestly don't think they have any marketing research being done at all. Hopefully that changes one day.

Dropping the price would not get more sales, because the people that want the things will pay what is there and move on. The largest percentage of people complaining will never be satisfied unless things are handed to them or free.
Crowns are easier than ever to get these days with being able to buy them for gold in game.

There does come a point where pricing does hit a resistance level regardless of what people want.
want to make more money? ESO + membership discounts on crown store purchases, people love bargains, Im spending 15 a month and you're going to give me a discount to actually use my crowns?

thats really what they should do. eso+ should give big discounts not the 10% crap to certain items. If they really want to add value to eso+ make it give a 25% discount to everything in the store at all times, even new stuff. Subs are what makes the most money so that would drive more subs.

then they can remove some stupid things from eso+ like limit on furnishing. Having a limit on furnishings just hurts sales of homes and well furnishings. counter productive.