Microsoft to Purchase ZOS

MyKillv2.0

gatekeeper13 wrote: »

Not sure if this good or bad news...

@gatekeeper13 , two previous MMO games that I have played (Everquest and WoW) have seen similar transitions. Both games are still going on, WoW is still the largest MMO by far in the world and Everquest still has a loyal base even after more than 20 years of existence. So I wouldn't worry about the sky falling and the game falling apart. However both games were effected by the purchases, no doubt. So yeah... the news is both good and bad. There will be things that are good that happen because of this and then there will be things that happen that are not so great because of this. The exact points are anyone's guess and at this point, anything stated is just a guess. Most of the time, not even an educated guess but a self centered, uninformed, and emotional guess. But yeah, this is both good and bad news.

There are two bits of good news, however. First is that the deal is not supposed to close until the end of 2021, which means you will not see any of these effects until 2022/2023 at the earliest and secondly, [snip] is already a company that changes directions often. So, the player base might not be as caught off as the two previous game's playerbase... which have a far more stable grasp on what type of game they are and the direction they were going. [snip] is kinda all over the place, so the playerbase will be able to handle the changes possibly better than the other two, which lets just say... did not react to the changes well.

Anyways, the sky isn't falling but tomorrow will be different, no doubt. Some will be good. Some will be bad.

[edited for bashing]

anitajoneb17_ESO

KappaKid83 wrote: »

Am I the only one who doesn't want it to be supported EXACTLY how it was and would like it to be better with better servers, better communication and a better overall experience than the crappy one that has been prevalent for the last 3+ years????

That's not the issue. I understand your "hope" .. but... are you optimistic of this being better taken care of by a company that does a thousand different things in IT, than by a company that is 100% devoted to game development and to game development only ?
Depending on whether Zenimax and its entities will keep their mentality and freedom of action (ideally with more financial means), or whether it will all melt down in the general Microsoft giant, the result will be different... and while delivering awesome software (yes I think MS software is awesome) and leaning a lot towards innovation, Microsoft is not exactly famous for its personalized customer service...

TheImperfect

I really hope this works out well but I feel like ESO will probably be doomed in a few years. I really, really hope to be proven wrong.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Microsoft, they make great computer hardware like mice and keyboards. Windows too is very good although I have some issues with the monetization of parts of it. I'm just not sure games is an area they do well in.

TequilaFire

I wouldn't worry about PS4/5, MS likes our dollars as well.

TheImperfect

Edaphon wrote: »

Lake wrote: »

I guess the next Elder Scrolls game will be Xbox / Windows exclusive.

And will feature a new Daedric Prince:

Evilest and scariest prince yet 😎

vamp_emily

Sounded good until I read, "ESO will continue to be supported exactly as it WAS";

The good news is ESO will be running on Microsoft Azure in the future, which is the next best thing to AWS.

Aurielle

CaptainVenom wrote: »

You know what's going to change with this? Absolutely nothing (maybe sonyboys may not see ES6 on their PS5 lol)

If that’s the case, I’ll just continue to enjoy my perfect, non-buggy, awesome PlayStation exclusives and accept that only the PC/XBone fanboys will be able to glitch out to their hearts’ content on ES6’s ancient engine.

danthemann5

Edaphon wrote: »

Lake wrote: »

I guess the next Elder Scrolls game will be Xbox / Windows exclusive.

And will feature a new Daedric Prince:

Looks like someone won the internet today.

Elvenheart

Aerenthir wrote: »

So far from experience, every working and usable software that Microsoft purchased from someone, became unusable and useless.

R.I.P

Examples please.

Jacarranda

Ratinira

mrsrobot wrote: »

Edaphon wrote: »

Lake wrote: »

I guess the next Elder Scrolls game will be Xbox / Windows exclusive.

And will feature a new Daedric Prince:

Evilest and scariest prince yet 😎

BSoD?

quadraxis666

No chance of Bethesda's games coming back to geforce now I guess. You can start new xbox accounts on xcloud for 3 times the price of gfn with none of your pc progress!

James-Wayne

MS Azure Servers for Australia... REJOICE!!!

VaranisArano

Aerenthir wrote: »

So far from experience, every working and usable software that Microsoft purchased from someone, became unusable and useless.

R.I.P

What happens when Microsoft buys software that only works some of the time?

NewbieOKS

new server purchase pretty please please please

vestahls

Don't even care about ESO anymore, but RIPerrony TES6

Avariprivateer

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/for-everyone/responsible-gaming/loot-boxes/ Xbox Game Studios Loot Box Policies
At Microsoft, our goal is to create great games and gaming experiences for everyone, wherever they play – on console, PC, or mobile devices. We want players to get the most value from our Xbox Game Studio games, which is why we invested in innovations like backward compatibility and in-home console streaming. We also want to keep our games fresh and to offer new experiences, including offering players the choice to buy new content and consumable items in their favorite games. In some instances, our business models allow for these items to be made available for customers to purchase, but we do not singularly determine success on these transactions. Our success depends on giving players great value, great experiences and earning long term trust.

Loot boxes are one of the many items we offer for sale in our games. Like trading cards, when you purchase a loot box, you know that you will receive a virtual item of value, but you don’t know exactly which item you will receive. Loot boxes have been the focus of debate because they contain an element of chance. We know that many of our customers like the element of chance in their gameplay and we want to deliver the best value to gamers who choose to buy loot boxes. We also want to be transparent about how Xbox Game Studios offers these items in our games. For all of our Xbox Game Studio games, starting with games released back in 2019, we will apply the following principles:

Players always receive fair value. Players will receive a fair minimum value for all loot box purchases in our games. Every loot box will provide a virtual item that has an in-game worth or value equal to or greater than the amount paid.

Items in loot boxes can always be earned through play. All items available through paid loot boxes in our games will also be available through unpaid opportunity by gameplay (i.e. grinding).

Content probability disclosure. Where loot box items are offered for purchase within our games, players will be told the probability of obtaining each category of possible items (e.g. 80% for a “common” item, 15% for a “rare” item, and 5% for an “epic” item).

Purchase disclosures. Our games will disclose, at the point of purchase or download, that they offer in-game purchases.

No pay to play in premium games. For purchased-to-own games, players will not be required to make additional purchases to play the base game. Expansions, DLC, and special content may require additional purchase.

We won’t use the information you share with us to reduce your odds. We will not use a player’s personal or gameplay information to negatively impact the odds or results of receiving a valuable loot box item. This information, if used, would only be used to enhance the opportunity of a player, e.g., the possible items received may be geared toward what a player needs at a given time in the game or to prevent duplicates where the duplicate item has no added value.

MurderMostFoul

CraeCrae

Major_Lag

Normally I would be concerned that such a deal could negatively affect the game in various ways...

...but with ESO in its current state and heading in the direction in which it has been going thus far, I would be really surprised if Microsoft can possibly make things any worse than they already are.

Ode2Order

Avariprivateer wrote: »

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/for-everyone/responsible-gaming/loot-boxes/Xbox Game Studios Loot Box Policies
At Microsoft, our goal is to create great games and gaming experiences for everyone, wherever they play – on console, PC, or mobile devices. We want players to get the most value from our Xbox Game Studio games, which is why we invested in innovations like backward compatibility and in-home console streaming. We also want to keep our games fresh and to offer new experiences, including offering players the choice to buy new content and consumable items in their favorite games. In some instances, our business models allow for these items to be made available for customers to purchase, but we do not singularly determine success on these transactions. Our success depends on giving players great value, great experiences and earning long term trust.

Loot boxes are one of the many items we offer for sale in our games. Like trading cards, when you purchase a loot box, you know that you will receive a virtual item of value, but you don’t know exactly which item you will receive. Loot boxes have been the focus of debate because they contain an element of chance. We know that many of our customers like the element of chance in their gameplay and we want to deliver the best value to gamers who choose to buy loot boxes. We also want to be transparent about how Xbox Game Studios offers these items in our games. For all of our Xbox Game Studio games, starting with games released back in 2019, we will apply the following principles:

Players always receive fair value. Players will receive a fair minimum value for all loot box purchases in our games. Every loot box will provide a virtual item that has an in-game worth or value equal to or greater than the amount paid.
Items in loot boxes can always be earned through play. All items available through paid loot boxes in our games will also be available through unpaid opportunity by gameplay (i.e. grinding).
Content probability disclosure. Where loot box items are offered for purchase within our games, players will be told the probability of obtaining each category of possible items (e.g. 80% for a “common” item, 15% for a “rare” item, and 5% for an “epic” item).
Purchase disclosures. Our games will disclose, at the point of purchase or download, that they offer in-game purchases.
No pay to play in premium games. For purchased-to-own games, players will not be required to make additional purchases to play the base game. Expansions, DLC, and special content may require additional purchase.
We won’t use the information you share with us to reduce your odds. We will not use a player’s personal or gameplay information to negatively impact the odds or results of receiving a valuable loot box item. This information, if used, would only be used to enhance the opportunity of a player, e.g., the possible items received may be geared toward what a player needs at a given time in the game or to prevent duplicates where the duplicate item has no added value.

Page not found.

CaffeinatedMayhem

Major_Lag wrote: »

Normally I would be concerned that such a deal could negatively affect the game in various ways...

...but with ESO in its current state and heading in the direction in which it has been going thus far, I would be really surprised if Microsoft can possibly make things any worse than they already are.

Microsoft says... "Hold my beer""

Yes, it CAN get worse. Honestly, things can always be worse. Probably the best children's book my parents ever bought for me.

dsalter

anitajoneb17_ESO wrote: »

KappaKid83 wrote: »

Am I the only one who doesn't want it to be supported EXACTLY how it was and would like it to be better with better servers, better communication and a better overall experience than the crappy one that has been prevalent for the last 3+ years????

That's not the issue. I understand your "hope" .. but... are you optimistic of this being better taken care of by a company that does a thousand different things in IT, than by a company that is 100% devoted to game development and to game development only ? .

Hope

Valamist

This is great news for most I am sure... but as a PS4/future PS5 player... I have my anxieties about ESO's continued support and the future of Elder Scrolls games on the consoles.

Hexys

Let's hope Microsoft is not going for full cash grab and spends some money on better servers [snip]

[edited for bashing]

NewbieOKS

It said in the news article:

Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will acquire ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion in cash.

Jesus Lord

Sylvermynx

NewbieOKS wrote: »

It said in the news article:

Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will acquire ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion in cash.

Jesus Lord

Nice retirement plan for owners/devs I guess.

anitajoneb17_ESO

NewbieOKS wrote: »

It said in the news article:

Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will acquire ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion in cash.

Jesus Lord

Isn't it impressive ?
Some guys who started programming games about 25 years ago in some backroom... and now it sells for 7.5 billions USD.
That's "the american dream". And I say that as an EU citizen :-)

And that's partly thanks to us. I know, Bethesda made TES3, TES4, TES5... Fallout... Dishonored... etc.. but the star product and cash cow of Zenimax Media currently is certainly mostly ESO.

Sarousse

Now, there won't be any excuse for bad performance on servers. Microsoft can add servers like mad

Avariprivateer

Ode2Order wrote: »

Avariprivateer wrote: »

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/for-everyone/responsible-gaming/loot-boxes/Xbox Game Studios Loot Box Policies
At Microsoft, our goal is to create great games and gaming experiences for everyone, wherever they play – on console, PC, or mobile devices. We want players to get the most value from our Xbox Game Studio games, which is why we invested in innovations like backward compatibility and in-home console streaming. We also want to keep our games fresh and to offer new experiences, including offering players the choice to buy new content and consumable items in their favorite games. In some instances, our business models allow for these items to be made available for customers to purchase, but we do not singularly determine success on these transactions. Our success depends on giving players great value, great experiences and earning long term trust.

Loot boxes are one of the many items we offer for sale in our games. Like trading cards, when you purchase a loot box, you know that you will receive a virtual item of value, but you don’t know exactly which item you will receive. Loot boxes have been the focus of debate because they contain an element of chance. We know that many of our customers like the element of chance in their gameplay and we want to deliver the best value to gamers who choose to buy loot boxes. We also want to be transparent about how Xbox Game Studios offers these items in our games. For all of our Xbox Game Studio games, starting with games released back in 2019, we will apply the following principles:

Players always receive fair value. Players will receive a fair minimum value for all loot box purchases in our games. Every loot box will provide a virtual item that has an in-game worth or value equal to or greater than the amount paid.
Items in loot boxes can always be earned through play. All items available through paid loot boxes in our games will also be available through unpaid opportunity by gameplay (i.e. grinding).
Content probability disclosure. Where loot box items are offered for purchase within our games, players will be told the probability of obtaining each category of possible items (e.g. 80% for a “common” item, 15% for a “rare” item, and 5% for an “epic” item).
Purchase disclosures. Our games will disclose, at the point of purchase or download, that they offer in-game purchases.
No pay to play in premium games. For purchased-to-own games, players will not be required to make additional purchases to play the base game. Expansions, DLC, and special content may require additional purchase.
We won’t use the information you share with us to reduce your odds. We will not use a player’s personal or gameplay information to negatively impact the odds or results of receiving a valuable loot box item. This information, if used, would only be used to enhance the opportunity of a player, e.g., the possible items received may be geared toward what a player needs at a given time in the game or to prevent duplicates where the duplicate item has no added value.

Page not found.

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/for-everyone/responsible-gaming/loot-boxes/
Fixed,I butchered the copy and paste, was not attempting to pull a fast one,lol.

Strider__Roshin

Excellent news! I wonder what that means for the game.