A Disappoiting Subject...

demiurgo · February 20

Hello,

I have been playing ESO since 2019, and although I acknowledge that the game has some issues, I have always resonated with most of its elements. I find the stories interesting, the housing system, the theme and the overall quality of the game very appealing. For this reason, for most of these 5 years of playing, I've had my ESO+ subscription active.

However, recently I became unemployed. Since the subscription price is in dollars (and I live in Brazil), I couldn't afford to continue paying. At first, I thought it wouldn't be a big deal, I would lose some benefits, but it wouldn't be too bad. How wrong I was...

Playing without the Craft Bag simply turns the game into too much of a chore. I used to log in every day, do various dailies, enjoy some quests in certain regions, explore, take care of my house, etc. Now, 50% of my time is spent managing a very messy inventory. Whenever I think about doing any activity, I remember that I'll have to spend time on the tedious task of organizing or ending up selling my items afterward - most of the items I sell nowadays I'd rather keep with me...

As a result, I've been logging in less and less to the game. It breaks my heart to realize that I'm losing interest in a game I've always loved simply because I can't afford to sustain an incredibly expensive subscription (1 dollar = 5 reais) to keep my inventory organized.

I know this is just one more among many complaints about the Craft Bag. But I think the Craft Bag should be a basic feature of the game. It's not about content, but rather a basic interface quality. Keeping the Craft Bag as a feature locked behind such an expensive subscription makes it look like it's about greed or an inability to monetize the game through real content. What's the next step? Locking the base game (R$ 61.50) at 30 fps and selling the unlocked 60 fps version through ESO+?

Anyway, it was just a vent. I hope that one day I can be proud to like ESO. For now, I'm afraid I can't say that.

Hugs.

Shara_Wynn · February 21

I am sorry to hear this. I didn't find out until recently that there was no price differentiation in the monthly subscription prices for ESO+ dependent on the local economy. Must be hard.

I too think they should make the crafting bag a standard feature. There are already a LOT of other perks to having ESO+ sub without having the crafting bag attached.

Hope things turn around for you in the real world.

Daoin · February 21

yes eso plus really means crafting bag and it would be great to have the crafting bag not included just for eso + and have some real consistent incentives to buy eso+ subs, but really expecting anyone to listen to real concerns rather than meta nerfs and tweaks just will never happen. sorry for that situation sounds a horrible predicament. i have only ever played with eso+ because of the crafting bag..without it i doubt i would play eso

Elsonso · February 21

The biggest thing to remember about inventory management is letting things go. The crafting bag works against that, which is where people run into trouble when they no longer have it.

On my ESO Plus accounts, I will deconstruct things for materials. A lot of my in-game time is spent without ESO Plus. For those times, I only carry what I need and I sell everything else. I have the merchant assistant and just pop them up and sell everything that isn't nailed down. When I collect too many things that cannot be sold, I have to decide whether to bank the items or just destroy them. Most of the time, I just destroy.

When I do daily crafting stuff, I only keep materials that are common for the daily request. If I don't have the stuff on hand, I abandon the quest. If a reward writ comes in where I have the materials on hand, I will complete it, but otherwise, it gets sold or trashed.

During free ESO Plus weeks, I will move any crafting items I have stashed into the bag, then continue on. I also take this opportunity to dye any costumes

My reasons for purchasing ESO Plus where I don't normally buy it are usually to access DLC zones I do not own (surveys, leads, etc) and to take advantage of the XP and inspiration bonus.

kah · February 24

I think a lot of players, including myself, would play more often without plus if the craft bag was just a basic feature. It's very frustrating how quickly mats build up just doing a couple daily quests.

SilverBride · February 24

kah wrote: »

I think a lot of players, including myself, would play more often without plus if the craft bag was just a basic feature.

Which is one reason that it's part of ESO+.

ESO+ needs to have desirable perks or no one would subscribe. And ESO needs incoming revenue to keep running.

ADarklore · February 24

SilverBride wrote: »

kah wrote: »

I think a lot of players, including myself, would play more often without plus if the craft bag was just a basic feature.

Which is one reason that it's part of ESO+.

ESO+ needs to have desirable perks or no one would subscribe. And ESO needs incoming revenue to keep running.

^THIS! As an ongoing MMO, ESO needs a steady source of income, and a very large majority of people subscribe just for the crafting bag.

peacenote · February 25

Shara_Wynn wrote: »

I am sorry to hear this. I didn't find out until recently that there was no price differentiation in the monthly subscription prices for ESO+ dependent on the local economy. Must be hard.

Hope things turn around for you in the real world.

Agreed. OP, I'm so sorry to hear that not being able to subscribe is impacting your enjoyment of the game. That's a bummer... especially since I know that for me, gaming is a big escape when life gets a little rough.

That said, it does argue a bit for the Craft Bag staying in the subscription. If a customer can't afford an ESO subscription (but wants to!), chances are high they aren't buying crowns or buying new content as it comes out, either. From a business perspective, how does ZOS benefit from a client that can't pay anything? We've been struggling with performance in the game for years, so while the rest of the community would prefer that you are here, because an MMO without a community is a boring one, ZOS definitely won't get anywhere if all of its customers were only previously paying customers.

Rather than removing the craft bag from ESO+, it more makes me think that they should introduce some kind of loyalty reward, where for each year you subscribe you receive complimentary months of ESO+, such that customers who undergo temporary hardships can maintain their benefits.

Elsonso wrote: »

The biggest thing to remember about inventory management is letting things go. The crafting bag works against that, which is where people run into trouble when they no longer have it.

This is good advice for many, but one reason I find the craft bag, and additional bank space, and whatever else comes with ESO+ so valueable, is not that I'm a hoarder... but I do struggle with decision fatigue, such that after 5 or 10 or 100 instances of "do I sell or d/e or keep?" I just don't want to think about it anymore. I can deal with it again the next morning, or the next play session, but sometimes I'm ashamed to admit that I would pay a silly amount of money just to defer the decisions about the inventory items to another time. This can be exacerbated by ADHD.

I would subscribe even if the craft bag became base came, but I am in the minority, I'm sure, as an "old school" gamer. Perhaps a compromise, where the craft bag is available but with a limit per item, would be a good way to go.

It's tough.. it's a bad business decision for ZOS to remove it from ESO+ if it's obviously a valued feature, but I feel for folks who fall on hard times, and want to use the game as an escape, but can't deal with the game without the Craft Bag. I'd be one of those people.

moo_2021 · February 25

ADarklore wrote: »

^THIS! As an ongoing MMO, ESO needs a steady source of income, and a very large majority of people subscribe just for the crafting bag.

not DLCs? They look much better than the original zones.