Why are the Houseguests so expensive?

SerasWhip · March 2022

Some of these guys (Lyranth - Irnskar) are more expensive than DLCs... I never got one so I was wondering, are the houseguests really that good, in terms of do they justify paying up to 2500 crowns? I have been thinking of buying some for RP purposes but the prices seem scary honestly.

redspecter23 · March 2022

ZOS has determined that the current pricing maximizes their income. If they price it lower, they will sell more, but earn less per sale. If they price it higher, they will make more per sale, but sell fewer. The greatest balancing team at ZOS is in the sales department

FlopsyPrince · March 2022

It is a "because we can" fee many MMOs follow.

Another thing that gets even more annoying when you realize "account wide" only means "server wide" not really "account wide".

spartaxoxo · March 2022

They aren't that good. No different Than Bastian and Mirri, just more lines. They charge more just because suckers like me will buy them because it's a favorite character.

Jusey1 · March 2022

They only got me on one Houseguest hook: M'aiq. That's all they are getting from me in this department.

NotaDaedraWorshipper · March 2022

I've only bought 2, and they were the cheapest ones, when they were on sale. They aren't even worth that.

Folkb · March 2022

Because those lazy son's don't get jobs and pay for themselves. Food and housing adds up. ☹

tsaescishoeshiner · March 2022

The more expensive ones have more voice lines, which does cost more to produce.

But I really don't think they're worth it. They don't make a house "come to life" for me, because they're just another furnishing. And they don't provide much ambient presence, just a one-sided conversation. Some of the voice lines are funny or quirky, but after you hear them once ... that's it.

I think part of what you pay for is to own a little piece of a character that you like, but it's still very unsatisfying to me. Like I LOVED Teldundindo, and part of me wants him as a houseguest. But I worry the novelty would wear off quickly. And that's the benefit of them being time-limited releases—it rushes decisions.

Services like merchants are much nicer IMO. I get more out talking to Ezabi than I do out of most of the quest houseguests. There are so many other services to add.

I wish we had more that were designed like other furnishings are: to provide a visual/audio experience, an ambient effect. Bards, magic jugglers, brawlers, mystics, etc. Actually, a lot of these are just emotes or mementos that a houseguest could perform.

Celephantsylvius_Bornasfinmo · March 2022

As a kid I don't think I ever received an action figure of the price of 20 dollars...why would I buy a pixelated action figure for 20 dollars, I mean you can't do anything with them either outside of 'pathing nodes' *scratches head*

Nope.

WiseSky · March 2022

You should see how much Genshin Impact Makes

SammyKhajit · March 2022

They’re okay but the set your path thing is really quite static and you just have these house guests endlessly pacing around.

kojou · March 2022

They are fun if you are into housing and want to add "life" to your house.

They cost a lot because their lines are voiced and voice actors cost additional money to hire and record the lines.

Amottica · March 2022

redspecter23 wrote: »

ZOS has determined that the current pricing maximizes their income. If they price it lower, they will sell more, but earn less per sale. If they price it higher, they will make more per sale, but sell fewer. The greatest balancing team at ZOS is in the sales department

Pretty much this. Enough people are willing to pay the price. We all make our choices.

I will note that everyone who purchased one does not own it.

whitecrow · March 2022

I bought Adusa-daro and won Squire Caw in a guild auction. I keep meaning to set them on paths...one day...

I agree that they are probably overpriced, which is why I only got one favorite character.

Vevvev · March 2022

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

It is a "because we can" fee many MMOs follow.

Another thing that gets even more annoying when you realize "account wide" only means "server wide" not really "account wide".

I don't like that server wide stuff. Only found out while testing on the PTS and didn't have access to my limited time cosmetics when it was the EU server's turn.

Kiralyn2000 · March 2022

SerasWhip wrote: »

Some of these guys (Lyranth - Irnskar) are more expensive than DLCs....

Another aspect of it is... if something is going to "cost more", it's better for the players for it to be useless fluff like cosmetics/furniture/etc than if it were actual gameplay things like DLC.

i.e, would you rather the companions be cheaper, and DLC more expensive? I know which one I'd pick.

alberichtano · March 2022

kojou wrote: »

They are fun if you are into housing and want to add "life" to your house.

They cost a lot because their lines are voiced and voice actors cost additional money to hire and record the lines.

They don't cost THAT much though. If they were all that costly than the base game would cost ridiculous amounts, considering all the voice acting involved - especially considering they had famous actors doing some of the voices. So that is not it.

Amottica · March 2022

Kiralyn2000 wrote: »

SerasWhip wrote: »

Some of these guys (Lyranth - Irnskar) are more expensive than DLCs....

Another aspect of it is... if something is going to "cost more", it's better for the players for it to be useless fluff like cosmetics/furniture/etc than if it were actual gameplay things like DLC.

i.e, would you rather the companions be cheaper, and DLC more expensive? I know which one I'd pick.

I would prefer it if we could not buy the DLCs and had to pay a subscription.

SerasWhip · March 2022

kojou wrote: »

They are fun if you are into housing and want to add "life" to your house.

They cost a lot because their lines are voiced and voice actors cost additional money to hire and record the lines.

Yeah I like the houseguest feature and the idea behind it, but still, I am pretty sure that the prices have very little to do with the voice acting. I mean Irnskar for instance is more expensive than the entire Murkmire DLC (2500 crowns vs 2000 crowns), I am sure there is more voice acting overall in Murkmire.

WraithCaller88 · March 2022

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

I wish we had more that were designed like other furnishings are: to provide a visual/audio experience, an ambient effect. Bards, magic jugglers, brawlers, mystics, etc. Actually, a lot of these are just emotes or mementos that a houseguest could perform.

YES TO ALL OF THAT

Frankly, I am surprised that ZOS hasn't implemented stuff like that before now... We have all these manor houses, why not have some staff & servants to liven them up?

spartaxoxo · March 2022

SerasWhip wrote: »

kojou wrote: »

They are fun if you are into housing and want to add "life" to your house.

They cost a lot because their lines are voiced and voice actors cost additional money to hire and record the lines.

Yeah I like the houseguest feature and the idea behind it, but still, I am pretty sure that the prices have very little to do with the voice acting. I mean Irnskar for instance is more expensive than the entire Murkmire DLC (2500 crowns vs 2000 crowns), I am sure there is more voice acting overall in Murkmire.

Yup. They charge that much because people buy it not because they absolutely need to charge that much to make money off of the guests.

Lugaldu · March 2022

I like it when houseguests walk around my buildings, but it would be better if they could do actions/emotes. Just being able to talk to them is not enough.

everseeing_njpreub18_ESO · March 2022

<opinion>

I don't think it has to do with the time or effort to model or voice act compared to other things or entire houses.

Honestly i believe (with no evidence) its a "because people pay" sort of thing. If they released one and zero bought it time after time, the price would come down.

Same with mounts and pets and houses, since in game stores began way back in other games, pricing has been figured and set to what people are willing to pay, not all, but enough for a profit.

Again if every person said no to an amount, the amount would be lowered or put on "sale".

</opinion>

UntilValhalla13 · March 2022

Probably the same reason that fake houses in a video game cost around a third of the price of a PS5.

Vevvev · March 2022

Account (server) wide purchase that can be put in any house you own. That's why, although it is very steep for sure. I never buy them and only have the houseguests that came for free.

Sawbones194 · March 2022

If your game isn't good enough for charging a monthly fee you will have to make the mines otherwise and you can guess how good the pricing is if the developer aren't good enough for a monthly subscription worth MMO.

Lady_Galadhiel · March 2022

Why are houseguests so expensive? Because they are housing related and everything what is regarding to housing is expensive.
If they would have their own cathegory I would buy even more of them but as long as they take away space for my mounts and pets I am very selective with which ones I get.
I own Maiq,Makes-Many-Soups,Biro-Dar,Sereyne,Sister Gellena and the free ones, all were worth it for me as they fit in different themes of my houses.