Why use out of rotation crown crates for daily rewards?

Btoop · August 2023

I've edited this post due to the original quite clearly giving the wrong impression, this is my own fault, primarily due to how I had attributed malice to the choice in unavailable crown crates.

To clarify from the start, despite the fact I'd rather not see any loot boxes in a game that I've already paid for, I do not take particular issue with crates being added as daily rewards. What I am calling into question is why use out of rotation crates instead of crates that currently are or will soon become available?

In the case of the Akaviri Potentate crates, these returned earlier this year and will be unlikely to return until 2025 at the soonest based on past unavailability (This large timespan to create FOMO is a bigger issue in and of itself but another topic unrelated to this). With this crate set to be unavailable for such a long time, you have to question why it is being used as a daily reward and admit that it feels like a tease to anyone who may want something from this crate but previously missed out.

(and no, please don't say that this is just giving people who missed out a chance to receive the item(s) they are after. We all know how the unfavourable odds in these loot boxes work.)

LunaFlora · August 2023

they returned for a month earlier this year

edit to add:
why do you say first taste?
these aren't preview crates, those haven't happened in a few years and only happened before new crates .

Btoop · August 2023

LunaFlora wrote: »

they returned for a month earlier this year

Which is why this seems even more questionable. The intention really does appear as if they're trying to 'rub salt in the wound' of anyone who recently feels like they missed out.

Grizzbeorn · August 2023

There's nothing at all questionable about it.
Most of the seasons, including Akaviri, come back off and on, temporarily, and it has been like that for years.
(the currently active example of this is Grim Harlequin.)

Btoop · August 2023

LunaFlora wrote: »

they returned for a month earlier this year

edit to add:
why do you say first taste?
these aren't preview crates, those haven't happened in a few years and only happened before new crates .

The reason I say 'first taste' is because with the game constantly seeing new players, any crown crates that are being given away, will be the first exposure to a sizable amount of players.

Btoop · August 2023

Grizzbeorn wrote: »

There's nothing at all questionable about it.
Most of the seasons, including Akaviri, come back off and on, temporarily, and it has been like that for years.

Which is why it is quesitonable that they choose a season that is not only out of rotation but also won't be returned to the store for roughly another year at the very soonest.

Grizzbeorn · August 2023

Btoop wrote: »

Grizzbeorn wrote: »

There's nothing at all questionable about it.
Most of the seasons, including Akaviri, come back off and on, temporarily, and it has been like that for years.

Which is why it is quesitonable that they choose a season that is not only out of rotation but also won't be returned to the store for roughly another year at the very soonest.

WRONG.

As just two examples we can use two you mentioned in your OP...
Flame Atronach and Xanmeer have been back in the store, on a temp rotation, much sooner than a year since the previous time in both cases.

LunaFlora · August 2023

they're giving us two free crates from a season that already returned this year.
that's nice

if players joined after February/March then sure it will be their first exposure to these crates, but the same goes for the Flame Atronach Crates that they will get from leveling up to levels 20, 30, and 50 for the first time.

i wish all crates were available permanently, however
every crate returns eventually.

Btoop · August 2023

Grizzbeorn wrote: »

Btoop wrote: »

Grizzbeorn wrote: »

There's nothing at all questionable about it.
Most of the seasons, including Akaviri, come back off and on, temporarily, and it has been like that for years.

Which is why it is quesitonable that they choose a season that is not only out of rotation but also won't be returned to the store for roughly another year at the very soonest.

WRONG.

As just two examples we can use two you mentioned in your overblown OP...
Flame Atronach and Xanmeer have been in the store, on a temp rotation, much sooner than a year since the previous time in both cases.

Please actually check what you are claiming.

Flame Atronach Crate: Was a daily reward in July 2023, hasn't been available for purchase since June 2022.

Xanmeer Crate: Was a daily reward in May 2023, hasn't been available for purchase since March 2022.

Feel free to verify this for yourself and take note of the gaps between availability, spanning from one year, to multiple years.

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Flame_Atronach_Crate
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Xanmeer_Crate

Grizzbeorn · August 2023

Btoop wrote: »

Flame Atronach Crate: Was a daily reward in July 2023, hasn't been available for purchase since June 2022.

Xanmeer Crate: Was a daily reward in May 2023, hasn't been available for purchase since March 2022.

That is not true.
We've seen both of those THIS year.

Look through the Crown Store Showcase articles for this year...
We saw Xanmeer just a couple of months ago.

Grizzbeorn · August 2023

WAIT.

I'M WRONG.

I'm sorry.

I'm getting the daily rewards confused with the temporary Crown Store rotations.

My bad. Sorry, sorry, sorry.

Edit:

Akaviri was in the store in February 2023, though.

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/63631

Btoop · August 2023

LunaFlora wrote: »

they're giving us two free crates from a season that already returned this year.
that's nice

if players joined after February/March then sure it will be their first exposure to these crates, but the same goes for the Flame Atronach Crates that they will get from leveling up to levels 20, 30, and 50 for the first time.

i wish all crates were available permanently, however
every crate returns eventually.

I've love to see this as just a nice thing but with the large timespans between availability, giving away a loot box that is out of rotation just comes across as a slap to the face to those who missed out.

Dr_Con · August 2023

ZOS would have to have a bad marketing team to retire crates but not do a formal announcement over it, I'd imagine the impulse buys would be in the tens of millions but they'd lose out on future revenue if they did announce it, but they'd only lose out on future revenue if they didn't announce it.

This thread is pure speculation and nothing more.

Androrix · August 2023

Grizzbeorn wrote: »

WAIT.

I'M WRONG.

I'm sorry.

I'm getting the daily rewards confused with the temporary Crown Store rotations.

My bad. Sorry, sorry, sorry.

Edit:

Akaviri was in the store in February 2023, though.

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/63631

Props for this post. Really nice to see someone checking and correcting and error.

wilykcat · August 2023

I hope the moderators lock this whole thread soon. It's nothing but back and forth arguing. Sorry.

ZOS_Kevin · August 2023

Btoop wrote: »

It was just recently announced that one of the upcoming September daily redeemables will be two 'Akaviri Potentate Crown Crates'...

This isn't strange in itself, the first taste is always free after all. The questionable part is that while the Akaviri Potentate loot boxes will be showing up as daily redeemables, they won't be returning to the store. This was also the case for 'Flame Atronach Crate' and the 'Xanmeer Crate' when they were previously given away.

So I just have to ask, what are ZOS trying to achieve? Why tease the potential of getting something from a certain season while leaving that season completely inaccessable?

Is it just out of spite? Are ZOS so insistent on abusing 'FOMO' that they're now just making it impossible for people to not miss out? I genuinly want to know.

So to answer the question directly, no. No move here is made out of spite. In fact, we do not make decisions for both the game and the studio based on spite.

The crates are apart of the daily login rewards to give value to those who do log in everyday and play. We want to add value where opportunities present themselves and adding crates as part of the daily rewards for September is a way to do that. That's it. There is no fomo there. Everyone has equal access to earn those crates. That's also why we post them in advance. So everyone has the opportunity to plan their month for login time.

Danikat · August 2023

I suspect ZOS see it as an example, trial, "taste", whatever you want to call it of crown crates in general, not a specific crate. Yes the rewards are different in each, but the way they work is the same so giving any free crates is supposed to tempt players to buy more of them.

Of course it usually backfires, when we get to that day there will be at least one forum thread full of people claiming they got junk that wasn't worth the time it took to collect and probably a few claiming it's insulting. But I assume they think it can work, otherwise they wouldn't have brought back free crates.

Alinhbo_Tyaka · August 2023

Since I won't buy crates I really don't care which ones they put in the daily rewards and I look at them as nothing more than a way to acquire gems that I occasionally use to buy something from the Crown Store.

Btoop · August 2023

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Btoop wrote: »

It was just recently announced that one of the upcoming September daily redeemables will be two 'Akaviri Potentate Crown Crates'...

This isn't strange in itself, the first taste is always free after all. The questionable part is that while the Akaviri Potentate loot boxes will be showing up as daily redeemables, they won't be returning to the store. This was also the case for 'Flame Atronach Crate' and the 'Xanmeer Crate' when they were previously given away.

So I just have to ask, what are ZOS trying to achieve? Why tease the potential of getting something from a certain season while leaving that season completely inaccessable?

Is it just out of spite? Are ZOS so insistent on abusing 'FOMO' that they're now just making it impossible for people to not miss out? I genuinly want to know.

So to answer the question directly, no. No move here is made out of spite. In fact, we do not make decisions for both the game and the studio based on spite.

The crates are apart of the daily login rewards to give value to those who do log in everyday and play. We want to add value where opportunities present themselves and adding crates as part of the daily rewards for September is a way to do that. That's it. There is no fomo there. Everyone has equal access to earn those crates. That's also why we post them in advance. So everyone has the opportunity to plan their month for login time.

Thank you for the resposne. @ZOS_Kevin

Can you provide any insight on why out of rotation crates are being chosen for the daily login rewards instead of ones that are in rotation or are planned during the same month as the reward?

Alinhbo_Tyaka · August 2023

Btoop wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Btoop wrote: »

It was just recently announced that one of the upcoming September daily redeemables will be two 'Akaviri Potentate Crown Crates'...

This isn't strange in itself, the first taste is always free after all. The questionable part is that while the Akaviri Potentate loot boxes will be showing up as daily redeemables, they won't be returning to the store. This was also the case for 'Flame Atronach Crate' and the 'Xanmeer Crate' when they were previously given away.

So I just have to ask, what are ZOS trying to achieve? Why tease the potential of getting something from a certain season while leaving that season completely inaccessable?

Is it just out of spite? Are ZOS so insistent on abusing 'FOMO' that they're now just making it impossible for people to not miss out? I genuinly want to know.

So to answer the question directly, no. No move here is made out of spite. In fact, we do not make decisions for both the game and the studio based on spite.

The crates are apart of the daily login rewards to give value to those who do log in everyday and play. We want to add value where opportunities present themselves and adding crates as part of the daily rewards for September is a way to do that. That's it. There is no fomo there. Everyone has equal access to earn those crates. That's also why we post them in advance. So everyone has the opportunity to plan their month for login time.

Thank you for the resposne. @ZOS_Kevin

Can you provide any insight on why out of rotation crates are being chosen for the daily login rewards instead of ones that are in rotation or are planned during the same month as the reward?

I suspect it has to do with revenue. If a player who buys crates in order to try to get the current Apex reward wins one with the free crate the odds are they won't purchase further crates in the Crown Store. By using out of rotation crates they avoid this possibility.

ZOS_Hadeostry · August 2023

Greetings,

After removing some unnecessary off topic posts from this thread, we would like everyone to keep posts on the subject at hand, civil, and constructive.

If there may be any questions in regards to the rules, please feel free to review them here

Carcamongus · August 2023

If getting free crates for little effort is a slap on the face, I turn the other cheek.

dragonlord500 · August 2023

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Btoop wrote: »

It was just recently announced that one of the upcoming September daily redeemables will be two 'Akaviri Potentate Crown Crates'...

This isn't strange in itself, the first taste is always free after all. The questionable part is that while the Akaviri Potentate loot boxes will be showing up as daily redeemables, they won't be returning to the store. This was also the case for 'Flame Atronach Crate' and the 'Xanmeer Crate' when they were previously given away.

So I just have to ask, what are ZOS trying to achieve? Why tease the potential of getting something from a certain season while leaving that season completely inaccessable?

Is it just out of spite? Are ZOS so insistent on abusing 'FOMO' that they're now just making it impossible for people to not miss out? I genuinly want to know.

So to answer the question directly, no. No move here is made out of spite. In fact, we do not make decisions for both the game and the studio based on spite.

The crates are apart of the daily login rewards to give value to those who do log in everyday and play. We want to add value where opportunities present themselves and adding crates as part of the daily rewards for September is a way to do that. That's it. There is no fomo there. Everyone has equal access to earn those crates. That's also why we post them in advance. So everyone has the opportunity to plan their month for login time.

so let me ask this question. why are you not having more crown crates every month? why must there be only 2 crates? The more crates the developers make the longer it takes for those crates to return to the store.

valenwood_vegan · August 2023

It's nice to see that they've finally solved all the actual issues with ESO and now we're complaining about free login rewards!

Marcus684 · August 2023

dragonlord500 wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Btoop wrote: »

It was just recently announced that one of the upcoming September daily redeemables will be two 'Akaviri Potentate Crown Crates'...

This isn't strange in itself, the first taste is always free after all. The questionable part is that while the Akaviri Potentate loot boxes will be showing up as daily redeemables, they won't be returning to the store. This was also the case for 'Flame Atronach Crate' and the 'Xanmeer Crate' when they were previously given away.

So I just have to ask, what are ZOS trying to achieve? Why tease the potential of getting something from a certain season while leaving that season completely inaccessable?

Is it just out of spite? Are ZOS so insistent on abusing 'FOMO' that they're now just making it impossible for people to not miss out? I genuinly want to know.

So to answer the question directly, no. No move here is made out of spite. In fact, we do not make decisions for both the game and the studio based on spite.

The crates are apart of the daily login rewards to give value to those who do log in everyday and play. We want to add value where opportunities present themselves and adding crates as part of the daily rewards for September is a way to do that. That's it. There is no fomo there. Everyone has equal access to earn those crates. That's also why we post them in advance. So everyone has the opportunity to plan their month for login time.

so let me ask this question. why are you not having more crown crates every month? why must there be only 2 crates? The more crates the developers make the longer it takes for those crates to return to the store.

Maybe because giving out more free crates cuts into their crate profits? Not exactly rocket science.

TaSheen · August 2023

Marcus684 wrote: »

dragonlord500 wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Btoop wrote: »

It was just recently announced that one of the upcoming September daily redeemables will be two 'Akaviri Potentate Crown Crates'...

This isn't strange in itself, the first taste is always free after all. The questionable part is that while the Akaviri Potentate loot boxes will be showing up as daily redeemables, they won't be returning to the store. This was also the case for 'Flame Atronach Crate' and the 'Xanmeer Crate' when they were previously given away.

So I just have to ask, what are ZOS trying to achieve? Why tease the potential of getting something from a certain season while leaving that season completely inaccessable?

Is it just out of spite? Are ZOS so insistent on abusing 'FOMO' that they're now just making it impossible for people to not miss out? I genuinly want to know.

So to answer the question directly, no. No move here is made out of spite. In fact, we do not make decisions for both the game and the studio based on spite.

The crates are apart of the daily login rewards to give value to those who do log in everyday and play. We want to add value where opportunities present themselves and adding crates as part of the daily rewards for September is a way to do that. That's it. There is no fomo there. Everyone has equal access to earn those crates. That's also why we post them in advance. So everyone has the opportunity to plan their month for login time.

so let me ask this question. why are you not having more crown crates every month? why must there be only 2 crates? The more crates the developers make the longer it takes for those crates to return to the store.

Maybe because giving out more free crates cuts into their crate profits? Not exactly rocket science.

Exactly.

Aislinna · August 2023

This thread is amazing to me. Frequently forum posters asked for crown crates to be given as daily login rewards. ZOS listened and added crown crates and people still complain and try to portray ZOS as evil.

wilykcat · August 2023

I rarely buy loot boxes (crates) in any online game. Instead I buy stuff the exact stuff I want from the in-game shop.

I know there is always a chance to get legacy items from those (stuff currently not available in game) and I understand how neat it is to get something awesome.

I sometimes recieve loot boxes from event quests in league of legends -- when I get something I don't want, I'll exchange it for something else.

The stuff recieved in loot boxes are all by chance. Lots of online games have this.

When the loot boxes are free and are a log in daily reward I'm always curious of what's inside 😉. When I get something cool or anything really (including stuff I don't need) I still be grateful without complaining.

spartaxoxo · August 2023

Wouldn't it be more exploitative to give current season crates since someone who opened the free ones and didn't get what they wanted might be tempted to buy more? I think it's hard for them to abuse FOMO for old crates when you can't buy them at the time.

jad11mumbler · August 2023

Btoop wrote: »

LunaFlora wrote: »

they returned for a month earlier this year

edit to add:
why do you say first taste?
these aren't preview crates, those haven't happened in a few years and only happened before new crates .

The reason I say 'first taste' is because with the game constantly seeing new players, any crown crates that are being given away, will be the first exposure to a sizable amount of players.

The "first taste" complaint is why ZoS removed Crown crates from the daily rewards for four years.
Then people complained they were removed.
Now there's complaints they're back

ZoS just can't win here.
I for one like the free crates over the rest of the "rewards", most of which only benefit new players, giving nothing to anyone playing more than a year.

Anyway for the actual topic, every thing released in the store comes back around on a cycle.
Crates have come and gone since their original release, and will do again.

ElvenOverlord · August 2023

Aislinna wrote: »

This thread is amazing to me. Frequently forum posters asked for crown crates to be given as daily login rewards. ZOS listened and added crown crates and people still complain and try to portray ZOS as evil.

Yeah I find this post to be weird honestly and complaining about something completely trivial instead of enjoying the fact we’re getting 2 free crown crates.