PSA: Make sure you don't already have Frostcaster Motif before buying in the Crown Store

Harry_Toes · December 2023

I almost made this mistake today. The Frostcaster motif is not listed in the Quest Journal section under Crafting Motifs. If I hadn't been paying attention I would have bought a motif I already owned.

Read the blurb for the Motif carefully in the crown store. It will tell you if you already own it. Or check your style mats at a crafting station (cloth, wood or blacksmith). You will see Stahlrim listed if you own it.

LunaFlora · December 2023

you can also check armor/weapon styles in collections or use an outfit station to see if you have it already.

Grizzbeorn · December 2023

It is [intentionally] possible to do because motifs are learned per-character, and lots of people DO learn motifs on multiple characters.

seecodenotgames · December 2023

Yes, I made this mistake a couple of years ago. I looked forward to it returning, bought it immediately and then when I tried to read it, I realised I already had it. Now it just sits forever in my bank.

virtus753 · December 2023

Grizzbeorn wrote: »

It is [intentionally] possible to do because motifs are learned per-character, and lots of people DO learn motifs on multiple characters.

Yes, this is true, and I think it will probably stay the way it is because of this.

In the case of Crown Store exclusive motifs, however, there is much less of an incentive for many to learn them on multiple characters compared to non-exclusive motifs.

1) There is no lore library entry, so
a) it doesn't count towards the tracker of known books and
b) it doesn't improve that character's chances of getting master writs (which are based on the lore library entries for crafting motifs).

(That all helps reduce the sense of needing to purchase a Crown Store exclusive for character completion, since it doesn't affect your character-specific records or rewards in any way.)

2) It can only be bought with crowns or from a trustworthy seller with the gold equivalent (which is rising by the day, at least on PC).

3) Crafting in it initially requires Mimic Stones, which cannot be sourced directly in game. Purchasing the style mat itself is fairly pricey because of this, if you can even find one (TTC lists only six right now for PC-NA). That's a significantly higher barrier to crafting in it compared to other motifs, both for one's own account and for those wanting to commission pieces in the style.

DragonRacer · December 2023

A note that I accidentally did this myself once. I put in a support ticket and customer service was actually very helpful. I explained that I bought it thinking my main did not know it but turned out she did and that the store text was unclear (at the time, the store made it sound like I had not learned it on the toon I was browsing the store with). Support had me delete the book from my inventory and once they confirmed I had destroyed it, they refunded my Crowns.

Elsonso · December 2023

The best rule of thumb is to not buy anything in the Crown Store than can be obtained in game.

spartaxoxo · December 2023

Elsonso wrote: »

The best rule of thumb is to not buy anything in the Crown Store than can be obtained in game.

Frostcaster motif is crown store only.

Elsonso · December 2023

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

The best rule of thumb is to not buy anything in the Crown Store than can be obtained in game.

Frostcaster motif is crown store only.

Oops. Sorry, yeah, I was thinking of the ones available for Seals in the Crown Store.

But, still, best rule of thumb...

phaneub17_ESO · December 2023

Main Crafter buys all the motifs, don't need an addon when previewing a motif bundle to see Green letters you can learn this recipe book or gold letters you already have this in your library.

Czeri · December 2023

Ugh, I bought it 3 times now. It hate that there is no visible way to tell you already own the motif when viewing the bundle details in the store...

phaneub17_ESO · December 2023

Czeri wrote: »

Ugh, I bought it 3 times now. It hate that there is no visible way to tell you already own the motif when viewing the bundle details in the store...

hold on, Imgur is being weird...

Okay well, it's no longer giving me links to post images, but anyway at least in gamepad mode, there's an option at the bottom that says Bundle Details and lets you preview what it comes with. From there you can see the content of the bundle without purchasing it, when I view it I see the motif and the 5 mimic stones separately, on the right hand side it shows that I already learned it.

Wait one more try...

katanagirl1 · December 2023

DragonRacer wrote: »

A note that I accidentally did this myself once. I put in a support ticket and customer service was actually very helpful. I explained that I bought it thinking my main did not know it but turned out she did and that the store text was unclear (at the time, the store made it sound like I had not learned it on the toon I was browsing the store with). Support had me delete the book from my inventory and once they confirmed I had destroyed it, they refunded my Crowns.

I agree, put in a ticket and explain how you made a mistake and they will fix it for you.

I did something similar and I was advised to do the same thing. Customer service is very helpful for honest mistakes.

ZOS_Hadeostry · December 2023

Greetings,

After further review we have decided to move this thread to a category we think is more appropriate for this topic, as it's about a crown store item.

Thank you for your understanding