Are Crown Prices out of control?

barney2525 · June 2020

supply and demand.

If people stop buying at the current prices, cost will go down.

As long as there are enough people to make it profitable, they will stay - or go up.

IMHO

dhboy123 · June 2020

barney2525 wrote: »

supply and demand.

If people stop buying at the current prices, cost will go down.

As long as there are enough people to make it profitable, they will stay - or go up.

IMHO

Indeed and that demand is 5% of players buying the majority of crowns.

cheemers · June 2020

Mortiis13 wrote: »

cheemers wrote: »

idk wrote: »

Kalik_Gold wrote: »

Ps4 per crown is 85g low to 100g norm.

425,000 gold for a full motif isn't bad.

That is not relevant to the cash to crown conversion which is what the discussion is about. Unless we want to talk about rates for the gold sellers.

It totally is relevant - there's an active in-game economy of paying gold to have crown items gifted to you by other players.

Is their a save way to trade gold<>crown? I'm sitting on Millions of gold and don't know what to do with it anymore. And how does it work? (via gift option I think?) nightfall crate will have some nice apex I would like to have but don't want to spend € for for potion/emote/skins/dresses etc. I will never use.

The safest way is to spend time in a social guild with many members, and ask for a crown trade there. Yes it's a in-game trade for gold then item gets gifted to you. Don't make the mistake of trying to do it in zone chat. You should take screenshots to ensure you have evidence if the other party cuts and runs, and that's why I suggest only doing it with guild mates because then you can appeal to the guild leaders with your evidence and there can be repercussions for the scammer.

I've done several trades both ways and never been scammed, but it's your own responsibility to take adequate precautions.

Xebov · June 2020

I dont see an issue with the way the Crown Store works.

What OP is complaining about is the price of a convenience.

The motifs in the store are expansive (except for the 3 crown store exclusives that cost 2k). So are riding lessons, the Banker/Merchant, Skyshards, Skilline unlocks, XP Scrolls, Research Scrolls. But they are all convenience. They either save waittime or play time.

For Research and riding you have wait time. For everything else you have play time. You have a simple choice. You play the game or you pay for a time saver. The game always offers you at least 2 paths. The crown to gold conversion even offers a 3rd path.

Most importantly you dont have to buy it. Which is a real argument here, even if ppl dont like it. You can reach all these things by spending time in the game (except for the Merchant and Bank but these have NPC equivalents).

What everyone should keep in mind here is that this helps pay for the game and that the devs also offer many things free of charge even if you dont pay a single cent.

- All Motifs are always available, they can be traded without limits
- All Craft Sets are always available, they can be traded without limits and thanks to atunable stations even crafted without limits
- All overland dropsets are always available, they can be traded without limits
- All monster set shoulders are always available
- All monster helmets become available at the golden vendor sooner or later
- All the Content is freely available at least twice a year when they have the free ESO+ week, allowing the pickup and leveling of skill lines and collection of skill points and farming of sets, these even stay available when this ends

This is some stuff that not every dev offers to its players and i have the feeling that such things are easily forgotten.

Stx wrote: »

I hate the type of player that spews "then dont buy it".

When 95% of the content in the game is exclusively available from crowns, not buying isnt really an option.

Besides that it isnt 95%, why exactly? You want a special style you have to pay for it. ESO is not the only game that follows this way. You might not like it, but its a valid strategy to make money.

Stx wrote: »

I'm used to other games like warcraft where if you see a cool mount you want, it's in the game and you can look up how to get it and go grind for it. In eso? Sorry, you can only get that mount with cash and maybe once a year... complete garbage.

Dont get me wrong but last time i read something about mounts in WoW was an Article describing how they added a shop with exclusive mounts to the game and even added limited supply mounts that could only be bought a limited number of times, so it wasnt there forever or time limited, it was number of sells limited.

dhboy123 wrote: »

With the one this game is being run it won't be long until it's overtaken by other games.

Looking at what other games have to offer i highly doubt it. No matter what game you play, there are always some players that dont like some aspects.

dhboy123 wrote: »

How long will it take people to realise ZOS are just milking this game for money until they bring out a new game?

Have a look at Star Trek Online to get an insight into what milking means. We also can talk about WoW that requires you to buy expansions, requires a monthly fee and still has an IG shop.

Keledus · June 2020

I wish more people would view it from Zenimax's point of view, everyone keeps barraging them about the way they monitize the game but honestly it's not as bad as people make it seem like. First lets look at the game itself, averages around 35-38 thousand players online on peak hours thats a medium sized game these days. Also keep in mind that a MMO such as WoW/ESO are very expensive to run and maintain, this isn't your regular battle royale game. Zenimax has 250 employees to pay aswell.
Plus! they're a company and have to profit/grow. A company that doesn't profit/grow for a long period of time is dead weight and will be scrapped 9/10.

Look at world of warcraft, they are subscription based to even play the game beyond level 20. (In ESO you can play to max level & alot more content than WoW offers for the base game.)

Beyond that the game is subscription based, and has a yearly chapter you purchase. The only monetization difference is the fact that ESO has a crown store with more cosmetics/quality of life features.

But you guys all seem to forget that this game isn't as massive as world of warcraft and other games, there are no millions of players playing this game every day and quite alot of the players that do play aren't even on a subscription. (WoW requires a subscription post level 20 otherwise you can't progress/play.) Meaning they have way, way more actual paying customers. Plus dont forget a game like that is more than double the age of ESO.

Servers have to be maintained, employees have to get paid and the company needs to grow/profit otherwise ESO wouldn't continue to exist. Aslong as they aren't literally selling power as in items that give you advantages against other players (weapons etc) there's not really anything to complain about. Cosmetics are cosmetics, and paying for a time skip is your choice no one is making you purchase them they're a option, not a must. You can also just play the game like anyone else and not use a riding skill boost from crown store or whatever time skip you're interested in, simply wait it out.

Subscribing to ESO+ is your best value option to get monthly crowns for cosmetics and access to all the dlcs. (Literally the same thing other large games have you subscribe to play or access that 90 percent of content locked behind a subscription)

As for things being expensive well yeah.. mean look at other games going with the WoW example again a mount there costs 25-30 dollars aswell.

And if you really want to play the elder scrolls but cant stand any of this your only option left is playing the singleplayer games.

Sephyr · June 2020

Xebov wrote: »

- All Motifs are always available, they can be traded without limits

This quoted bit is not true. Before outfit style conversion was a main thing surrounded by chapters we had a few Crown Store Exclusive motifs. Stalhrim Frostcaster, Grim Harlequin Style, and Tsaesci. They're released the first two around three events respectively (Stalhrim around the New Life Festival, Harlequin around the Jester's and Witches Festivals). Tsaesci has only been released once and that was back in 2018. While books may be tradeable in theory (there's no listing on TTC so I have my doubts), they are in fact intended to only be exclusive to the crown store. While you briefly mention them early on in your response, you broadly paint them under this tab as an inclusion.

Tigerseye · June 2020

Bradyfjord wrote: »

Lysette wrote: »

Bradyfjord wrote: »

It's easy. If it's so expensive, then don't buy anything on the crown store. Use what resources you have for your real life family and pets.

you assume with it that people cannot afford it - but this is not necessarily the case. One can deem a price tag as too high regardless. think about it - a hot dog for 100 dollars is too high a price tag for what it offers, whereas getting a Ferrari for 150,000 dollars might be a real bargain - and this judgement is independent of if one could afford it or not.

Don't rewrite my post to fit your hurt feelings. I never said anyone could or could not buy it, but that maybe they shouldn't if they feel the prices (relative to the value gained) are too expensive. Rich or poor, if you get out less than you put in, it is always a bad way to use your resources.

High price isn't the problem, it is value as an equation: Quality = Price. It is a qualitative decision, but if the price outweighs the quality, then you end up with a bad transaction for you. Don't buy it if that is the case. Like I said, there are more important things to spend on like family and pets... or a Ferrari.

There was nothing in her post that suggested she had "hurt feelings".

Just because you are obviously someone who can't handle being mildly disagreed with, on a relatively unimportant issue, no need to project your own insecurities onto her.

Sailor_Palutena · June 2020

Shagreth wrote: »

ESO plus is optional, but I would argue that it's actually necessary to play the game and experience everything. One way or the other you have to pay for dlc and/or expansions, I'd wager some of that money is used to make these amazingly big houses and other overpriced things from the store. I wouldn't want to compare with something so hyperbolic as the Javelin, that's rather unhealthy.

Optional or not and disregarding which pool of money they're draining to create these assets, I believe that the prices are astronomical for what they offer (subjective? perhaps) I also strongly disagree with loot boxes, but let's not get there, it's already done.

Grandchamp1989 wrote: »

It is not just ESO.

Remember when 2 dollar horse armor was scandalous?

Now every game from fortnite to Apex Legends charge 20 dollar for an emote.

Yeah, it's depressing, but it's now the standard.

I love Plus, but I'm being forced to not subscribe due to the game not having a simple option of skip DLC dungeons which I loathe. Most of the time I just want to run a classic dungeon in a breeze. This is unlikely with dlcs. All the other additions from plus are awesome. I'm just going to reach 1000CP (currently 975), finish Greymoor and be done with ESO until the next expansion.

Mr_Walker · June 2020

cheemers wrote: »

Mortiis13 wrote: »

cheemers wrote: »

idk wrote: »

Kalik_Gold wrote: »

Ps4 per crown is 85g low to 100g norm.

425,000 gold for a full motif isn't bad.

That is not relevant to the cash to crown conversion which is what the discussion is about. Unless we want to talk about rates for the gold sellers.

It totally is relevant - there's an active in-game economy of paying gold to have crown items gifted to you by other players.

Is their a save way to trade gold<>crown? I'm sitting on Millions of gold and don't know what to do with it anymore. And how does it work? (via gift option I think?) nightfall crate will have some nice apex I would like to have but don't want to spend € for for potion/emote/skins/dresses etc. I will never use.

The safest way is to spend time in a social guild with many members, and ask for a crown trade there. Yes it's a in-game trade for gold then item gets gifted to you. Don't make the mistake of trying to do it in zone chat. You should take screenshots to ensure you have evidence if the other party cuts and runs, and that's why I suggest only doing it with guild mates because then you can appeal to the guild leaders with your evidence and there can be repercussions for the scammer.

I've done several trades both ways and never been scammed, but it's your own responsibility to take adequate precautions.

I might add... buy something cheap before making a big transaction with a random. I usually buy 1 crown crate. If they balk at that I assume they're a scammer.

At worst if you get scammed you're only out max 40K.

gatekeeper13 · June 2020

Prices are not just out of control. They are insane.

But as far as there are people willing to waste their money on cosmetic junk, prices will stay up.

Won't forget a guy whose house I visited to use a crafting station, about a year ago... It was a beautiful place (it was like an island, can't remember the name) full of statues etc etc and asked him how did he manage to make it look so cool and collect all that stuff. Guess what his answer was? "I was drunk one night and spent around 1.200 euros on crown crates through my credit card".

So, why do you wonder why prices are high?

Eifleber · June 2020

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

I have to scratch my head when I see the outfit slots. I figure most folks would want one for each character and be willing to pay a decent price for it. But at the current cost of one, I question how many they sell. I have to believe it would be more profitable to make the additional outfit account wide or cut the price down to where a player might actually consider buying one for each character instead of laughing and buying none.

Yea it's astonishing. 1500 crowns (€12.99) for ONE SINGLE extra outfit on ONE SINGLE character is a bit too much.
As in five times too much.

Sometimes I miss the GW2 outfit system. You could just mix the look of one armour piece with the stats of another armour piece. That way you could have a few sets with the looks you want and you could farm some sets just for stats and other for cosmetics.
Didn' t cost IRL money.

❆

Shagreth · June 2020

Keledus wrote: »

I wish more people would view it from Zenimax's point of view, everyone keeps barraging them about the way they monitize the game but honestly it's not as bad as people make it seem like. First lets look at the game itself, averages around 35-38 thousand players online on peak hours thats a medium sized game these days. .

Where are you getting these numbers from? Steam? There's more people playing. Not saying what they stated earlier that there's 15 million active subscribers is true, but both are ridiculous numbers. If they only had that much they wouldn't even be able to afford making a chair for our homes. Obvious hyperbole there but you know what I mean.

thedavidventer · June 2020

Yes, crown prices are out of control and the Crown Crates/Crown Gems is a gambling scam I'll never touch. That said, I do buy some stuff with crowns but I don't see the logic behind making one outfit cost the same as the base game or a month of ESO+. You're telling me that one outfit is worth as much as the entire game or a month of premium playtime? Really? That devalues the game itself. Yet here I am, buying stuff from the crown store anyway because I really want it, even though it leaves me feeling really used and confused as to why an outfit is worth as much as the actual game itself. Well done ZOS, your cash cow is working. I just wish the crown store had more variety, like being able to purchase all items directly at fees not exceeding the cost of the base game instead of locking things behind the scam crates. I'd end up buying more crowns if there were more things to buy, at reasonable prices, but I'm not gambling with crates, sorry.

This game also seriously needs a built-in system for converting gold to crowns and vice versa (like the WoW Token System). That way everything is achievable in-game and ZOS still gets the money because someone needs to buy the crowns to exchange for the gold. I know that many players are already doing this through gifting crown items but that requires a lot of trust and there's no way to gift crowns directly, only specific items. We need a Crown/Gold exchange system built-in!

Xebov · June 2020

Sephyr wrote: »

This quoted bit is not true. Before outfit style conversion was a main thing surrounded by chapters we had a few Crown Store Exclusive motifs. Stalhrim Frostcaster, Grim Harlequin Style, and Tsaesci. They're released the first two around three events respectively (Stalhrim around the New Life Festival, Harlequin around the Jester's and Witches Festivals). Tsaesci has only been released once and that was back in 2018. While books may be tradeable in theory (there's no listing on TTC so I have my doubts), they are in fact intended to only be exclusive to the crown store. While you briefly mention them early on in your response, you broadly paint them under this tab as an inclusion.

You are right of course, but the general argument is still correct, even with these 3 special cases.

Scion_of_Yggdrasil · June 2020

gatekeeper13 wrote: »

Prices are not just out of control. They are insane.

But as far as there are people willing to waste their money on cosmetic junk, prices will stay up.
...[example from player:] "I was drunk one night and spent around 1.200 euros on crown crates through my credit card".
...So, why do you wonder why prices are high?

Great point, and the exact reason something needs to change. People are obviously willing to fork over money, and even accidentally. Regardless, it does not justify the price gouging. When you consider...

thedavidventer wrote: »

... I don't see the logic behind making one outfit cost the same as the base game or a month of ESO+. You're telling me that one outfit is worth as much as the entire game or a month of premium playtime?

A cosmetic should NOT cost that much. Banker/Merchant followers? That is bordering pay to win for extreme convenience, so it should warrant a more exclusive price tag. I myself bought the meowing versions for dungeon farming/housing convenience, but am still a bit ticked off at the price.

The "time saving" argument.... Very valid point, but again, an invalid argument. The topic for debate is whether or not crown prices are too high. The fact that you "save time" addresses the type of content you are purchasing, not the price itself.

The "they need to fund the game" argument? Correct, exactly the other point, very valid, very in tune with this thread. But the truth is... more people would be willing to spend more money on ESO if the prices weren't absurd. Why milk a few whales, when you can form a better financial relationship with long time players, and fans, of TES (the exact market you should WANT to support your game).

Since some people need things to be put to scale, lets consider another console I play a lot of: Nintendo Switch, Smash Ultimate offers individual fighters, or a fighters pass. When you compare these "optional" purchases....
Smash Ultimate, New Game: $60.00
Stand Alone DLC Fighter: $5.99
Fighters Pass 2 (Includes 6 DLC fighters): $29.99

None of these exceed even half the actual games price. Fighters Pass 1 was only $24.99 (so they only increased the price by $5 for the second pass). Not to mention the cosmetic options for Mii fighters, which are only a few dollars each.

Now before everyone gets their undergarments in a wad... I know, different consoles, different games. ESO has some wiggle room to charge a bit more for things since, as an MMO, they definitely need to maintain things on a different scale than Smash Ultimate... no one is arguing that. That does not excuse the fact that an 11,000-crown house costs [insert whatever crown:gold ratio you want, since that seems to be a popular argument], but more importantly, $80 (via 2 5500 crown purchases).

People need to wake up, and quit making excuses. Know what happened to EA when everyone ripped them a new one for implementing their outrageous loot crates in Battlefront 2? They changed it. Not only that, but to protect their image, they next released a single player rpg title without the bs. Do people still play the game? Yes! I still love it, flaws included. No one here is saying they hate ESO. In fact, we all like ESO enough to care about these disgusting prices.

End rant.

[Edit for spelling, because... misspelled words are ew.]

Starlock · June 2020

precambria wrote: »

No one here is saying they hate ESO. In fact, we all like ESO enough to care about these disgusting prices.

Just quoting this for emphasis.

I complain a lot about the cash shop in this game on general principle but primarily because ESO is otherwise quite a good game that I would recommend to everyone... if not for how bad the monetization has gotten. A good game speaks for itself; it doesn't need to be buttressed by shady monetization practices. And shady monetization practices result in loss of customer good will.

Fun fact - ZOS is currently hiring a lot of new people to ramp up pre-production for their new games-as-service title. Based on the openings, it's going to be some sort of open world game and a new IP. Given how ESO is a quality game, one can expect this to be a quality game as well. However, they're going to have to work very, very hard to get any sort of buy-in from me for whatever this title is now that they've established themselves as a company that doesn't care about engaging in questionable monetization of their titles. ESO is the sole exception I make to boycotting games that engage in sketchy monetization. And I just don't have any faith whatsoever that their new title won't be exploitative AF.

Ravensilver · June 2020

Shagreth wrote: »

I truly hate to whine and cry in my first post after returning to the game but have the Crown Prices always been so high? Having some financial issues right now, so I guess my psychology is getting the better of me, but if I'm not mistaking anything.. it would cost me 5000 crowns (~35 euro) for a motif (which is nothing spectacular) and around 85 euro for a fully furnished notable house. I don't mean to sound entitled but in what universe is this ok? These are hard times, yes, not asking for free stuff, but that is rather demoralizing.

If I were you, I'd buy the non-furnished version of the house. You can do a really nice job of furnishing it with stuff bought from the guild traders. Or buy the recipes and do your own crafting.

The big houses *are* expensive, crown wise. But you can get nice ones for gold and the furnishings for gold, too.

That's not to say I don't buy stuff off the crown store from time to time, if I see something I really like. But most of the time I can hold back... ^^;;

Ravensilver · June 2020

Oh... forgot to add: the furniture that you buy with the house (when you buy a crown furnished house) is bound. So you can't sell or trade it.

And buying or crafting your own makes you a lot more flexible. Gettting the gold together to buy a notable house empty doesn't take all that long. Especially not now that we have antiquities. Selling those treasure ones certainly fills the pocket.

Mettaricana · June 2020

My issue with crowns in eso is that there are ingame items that serve little purpose reskinned horses and pets that individually cost more than the entire game world and its purchase price. Like buying a hood ornament for more than the entire car's cost. Its like why should a big empty house cost more than greymoor? Even worse crown gem timed exclusives like the wicker horse we have to basically spend a stimulus check for a 1% chance to get a flashy mushroom horse or fail miserably enough to buy a wicker horse for a massively inflated value. Truth of the matter RNG does not belong in the crown store especially for the outrageous prices...

yRaven · June 2020

I'm buying 100:1 here on NA, so they never been so low for me, i'm literally buying anything i see on crown store

MEBengalsFan2001 · June 2020

Austinseph1 wrote: »

People that have money to spend 100$ on cash shops would find another way to lose their money. The whole purpose of the game is to funnel you into the cash shop from a business perspective. Buy chapters to keep you busy, and shovel micro transactions to you at a premium in-between. That's how they can sell you the whole game for 10$ but charge 100$ for a house that took 1/10,000 the time to make.

Its a MMO and very common even among those that require memberships. I remember when Dragon Age Origins came out and people cried about buying a $10 DLC that gave roughly 20 hours of game time. Now $10 is simply a weapon or armor or just a style in some solo player games. MMOs are worst as they need constant cash stream vs. a single player game.

Kiralyn2000 · June 2020

Destai wrote: »

I just don't think there's any justification for $100+ houses.

Do you think there's any justification for IRL $500 shoes, or $300 'designer' pre-ripped jeans, or $2000 dresses, or $100k cars, or... you get the idea.

As long as it's useless crap like houses, I've got no issue with there being some Big Ticket items in the shop - as long as there's also low-end items for the Average Joe. (and that's where it's kind of falling down, since they keep putting out Big Houses, but there's not also new small ones.)

If anything, just putting out Big Stuff is a discouragement to spend anything, not them strong-arming me into spending more. /shrug

Xarc · June 2020

I agree with you all, but.

But if the offers is like that, it's because there is a demand.
If tons of people buy it at this price, then, why should zos reduce the price ?

VoidCommander · June 2020

ACTUAL ANSWER: yes, things have gone up in price. Crown homes used to cost around 3000 crowns, but that all changed when clockwork city was released. The crown prices for the notable homes and everything else were drastically raised. Zos’s crown store caters to the few who will actually buy this stuff for so much money, rather than having a low enough price that many people would buy it. It is a really bad business model to be honest. Micro transactions only work if they are, you know, micro.

Scion_of_Yggdrasil · June 2020

Starlock wrote: »

precambria wrote: »

No one here is saying they hate ESO. In fact, we all like ESO enough to care about these disgusting prices.

Just quoting this for emphasis.

I complain a lot about the cash shop in this game on general principle but primarily because ESO is otherwise quite a good game that I would recommend to everyone... if not for how bad the monetization has gotten. A good game speaks for itself; it doesn't need to be buttressed by shady monetization practices. And shady monetization practices result in loss of customer good will.

Fun fact - ZOS is currently hiring a lot of new people to ramp up pre-production for their new games-as-service title. Based on the openings, it's going to be some sort of open world game and a new IP. Given how ESO is a quality game, one can expect this to be a quality game as well. However, they're going to have to work very, very hard to get any sort of buy-in from me for whatever this title is now that they've established themselves as a company that doesn't care about engaging in questionable monetization of their titles. ESO is the sole exception I make to boycotting games that engage in sketchy monetization. And I just don't have any faith whatsoever that their new title won't be exploitative AF.

Strange how the quote said it was quoted from someone I didn't even quote in my post lol :P

Excellent point. I haven't played EA's Jedi: Fallen Order because of how they handled Battlefront 2; it ruined my opinion of the company and destroyed any desire to play another one of their games (we ended up pre-ordering BF2, so we were locked in to give it a shot before we knew about loot crates). For those unfamiliar with this mini gaming revolution, here is one of many articles detailing the hours/money that would have been required had loot-crates not been done away with.

As soon as a game introduces a second currency, that is purchased by real life funds, you have lost me as a gamer. As a long time Elder Scrolls fan, I gave ESO a second shot (after quitting the first time when I saw the crown store). Its dishonest, and opens the door for all manner of gross practices. ESO takes this a step further with gems...

dbgager · June 2020

I have more crowns then I know what to do with just by subbing. Nothing costs me a cent . And a sub is very inexpensive in comparison.

Stx · June 2020

dbgager wrote: »

I have more crowns then I know what to do with just by subbing. Nothing costs me a cent . And a sub is very inexpensive in comparison.

I love poeple who claim this.

So you're saying with a measly 10,000 crowns for SIX MONTHS from subbing, you have more than you know what to do with?

Bank/merchant cost 5k each. Character slots, outfit slots, name change, race change, unlocking hair/facial hair styles, any one mount, any one costume... These all cost between 1500 and 3k. Not to mention houses, which are between 5 and 10k. Not to mention crown crates with some of the flashiest mounts available which are very pricey.

Do you have so many extra crowns because you just never spend them? Because you just don't care about character customization?

dbgager · June 2020

Yes..I have crowns from years of subbing. I recently bought all the DLC..a mount and still have about 20 k crowns.

dbgager · June 2020

oh and 3 inventory slots..it adds up if you leave the game for a time. $15 a month . I spend more on a meal for 1 day of my life.

bearbelly · June 2020

Sephyr wrote: »

Xebov wrote: »

- All Motifs are always available, they can be traded without limits

Tsaesci has only been released once and that was back in 2018. While books may be tradeable in theory (there's no listing on TTC so I have my doubts), they are in fact intended to only be exclusive to the crown store. While you briefly mention them early on in your response, you broadly paint them under this tab as an inclusion.

Yes, all motifs purchased from the Crown Store are "Bind on Pickup," so you wouldn't (and don't) see Tsaesci in TTC (unfortunately), because it was only ever a CrownStore-exclusive, without an in-game counterpart, and hence, not tradeable.