Request: Crossplay FAQ

RaptorRodeoGod · April 28

Crossplay is going to have wide reaching effects throughout the whole game. I assume thought has been put in to provide/start to come up with solutions for: duplicate Character/Account/Guild names, the scale of the in game trading economy, crown to gold rates, server lag, and a host of other things I would assume. I'm sure we all would appreciate a news article or a forum post going over these, and whatever other questions come up. What does everyone else think?

tomofhyrule · April 28

I doubt we're far enough along for a news article, but it would be great for the team to give us a forum post trying to address at least their plans for the major issues that players have (name conflicts, server plans, economy differences), and allowing players to post back to see what their pain points are.

We've had way too many things that the team has kept under the rug until it was far too late for any changes to the foundations of it, and as a result it releases in the most destructive way.
coughSubclassingcough

It'd be great to get at least a high-level forum post from the devs.

fizzybeef · April 28

We need crossplay soon

BradTheNord · April 28

Considering Crossplay isn’t this year I can’t see us getting a huge post about it any time soon.

As they said themselves it will be a huge celebration when It happens so I would imagine they will make a big deal out of it nearer to the time with golden pursuits events etc

Heck they could even call it Two Tamriel the successor to One Tamriel “play on words” triple Entendre I’m a genius !!

But alas can’t see it happening until late next year

GeneralGrundmann · April 28

Well, yeah, would be nice to know.

But it will be quite some time until crossplay finally arrives and I would prefere a FAQ with some final decisions short before the release of crossplay instead of planned and/or work in progress updates now.

Blood_again · April 28

GeneralGrundmann wrote: »

Well, yeah, would be nice to know.

But it will be quite some time until crossplay finally arrives and I would prefere a FAQ with some final decisions short before the release of crossplay instead of planned and/or work in progress updates now.

I won't like only some final decisions short before the release of crossplay.
I hope we will be given some details way before the process final. I also hope devs would consider the feedback on the mentioned details.
Because things like names collision are really sensitive for many.

DarkStrifeYT · April 28

Just prepare for an economic change for starters. When Warframe did crossplay pc players welcomed them but at least 75% of all console players got muted within the first hour because of some of the stuff they were saying. It was insane.

frogthroat · April 28

Especially because people have doubts of the most obvious things, an FAQ would be a good idea.

Q: What about duplicate user/guild/character names?
A: Yes, we are looking for a solution as this needs to be solved before crossplay is possible.

LunaFlora · April 28

would be helpful yes.

tomofhyrule · April 28

GeneralGrundmann wrote: »

But it will be quite some time until crossplay finally arrives and I would prefere a FAQ with some final decisions short before the release of crossplay instead of planned and/or work in progress updates now.

That's the problem.

ZOS has a habit of not saying anything until they finish it... which means that if players don't like the way it works, now there's nothing that can be changed about it. That then results in a lot of people leaving the game.

The name conflict thing is touchy, and there are a lot of fears that ZOS (or even other players) don't understand how touchy it is. Sure, it sounds great on principle to get more people on the same server, but there are a lot of players who prefer ESO as a single-player experience or are very into their character RP. If they are forced to change their character names for any reason... well, the 'uninstall' button is much easier to hit than changing 10+ years of personal lore.

For large overarching changes, it would be in ZOS's best interest to say "hey, this is probably a year out, but here are our thoughts." mainly so the players could say "hey, could you do it this way instead?" That would help with this idea that they keep saying about building the game with the players, and then the feedback could actually be implemented... as opposed to every other time they do something big and then the feedback goes in the "thanks for the feedback but it's too late to do anything about it now, so I'm sure the players will think like us and not you, right?" folder.

valenwood_vegan · April 28

I wouldn't expect to hear any significant details till 2027. They've been extremely clear that it's not coming soon.

Not saying that a FAQ and some more information would be a bad thing. But I think people have gotta manage their expectations - just because zos did something to the server yesterday does not mean crossplay is impending or magically happening sooner now.

It would be good for them to address some of the community concerns and pain points to start a dialogue early, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're still at the stage of just trying to figure out what's even technically possible right now.

GeneralGrundmann · April 28

Name conflicts are technically almost no issue, for example a "PS Symbol", a "X" or the letters "PC" behind the player name is an easy solution.

My main sorrow are different add-ons that play havoc if there are different players on different platforms in the same group.

tomofhyrule · April 28

GeneralGrundmann wrote: »

Name conflicts are technically almost no issue, for example a "PS Symbol", an "X" or the letters "PC" behind the player name is an easy solution.

For you, that is an acceptable solution.

For people who are deeply into character lore, it’s horribly jarring to see that in universe. We have times where your character name is used in dialogue; a lot of lore-focused players will blanch at going up to Darien and saying “My name is Bob Smith💻” or seeing a note in the world that says “The target is a female Nord named Jane Doe PS.”

A lot of RP-focused players agonize over names for weeks. Seeing it changed in any way is worth an uninstall.

YffresTrill · April 28

tomofhyrule wrote: »

For you, that is an acceptable solution.

For people who are deeply into character lore, it’s horribly jarring to see that in universe. We have times where your character name is used in dialogue; a lot of lore-focused players will blanch at going up to Darien and saying “My name is Bob Smith💻” or seeing a note in the world that says “The target is a female Nord named Jane Doe PS.”

A lot of RP-focused players agonize over names for weeks. Seeing it changed in any way is worth an uninstall.

Thank you for championing this cause so passionately. There are many people who feel this way, most of us not on the forums.

And yes, a FAQ in the early stages would hopefully alleviate a lot of concerns and help open a dialogue while there is still opportunity for contentious aspects of crossplay to be resolved before they become baked in.

GeneralGrundmann · April 28

tomofhyrule wrote: »

GeneralGrundmann wrote: »

Name conflicts are technically almost no issue, for example a "PS Symbol", an "X" or the letters "PC" behind the player name is an easy solution.

For you, that is an acceptable solution.

For people who are deeply into character lore, it’s horribly jarring to see that in universe. We have times where your character name is used in dialogue; a lot of lore-focused players will blanch at going up to Darien and saying “My name is Bob Smith💻” or seeing a note in the world that says “The target is a female Nord named Jane Doe PS.”

A lot of RP-focused players agonize over names for weeks. Seeing it changed in any way is worth an uninstall.

I didn't see this issue as a problematic issue, so thanks for telling me that for some gamers this is a major pain point, never thought about it this way.

robertlabrie · April 28

ZOS has been intentionally deflating the PC economy for years with multiple rounds of commodity dumping in preparation for cross play so at least that problem is "solved" (where solved means prices fluctuate unpredictably)

Can't speak to the player and guild name issues.

Tandor · April 28

GeneralGrundmann wrote: »

Name conflicts are technically almost no issue, for example a "PS Symbol", a "X" or the letters "PC" behind the player name is an easy solution.

That wouldn't be acceptable to me. Whenever I play a game where service suffixes are available such as length of time the game has been owned or the original server name following a merger I avoid such things if possible, they ruin immersion for me. If it isn't possible to avoid it then it becomes a significant factor in any decision to move on. That may sound an over-reaction but that's the way it is, and I don't believe I'm alone in thinking that way.

One possible solution would be for affected characters to be able to add or change a surname to their character to distinguish it from any namesake, but I understand why for some even that would be a step too far - especially for a player who didn't want crossplay in the first place and fully anticipated the problems it would cause.

ZOS_Kevin · April 28

Hi All, just wanted to follow up here. I know some folks would like info now, but we are still a bit too early for sharing anything. There is quite a bit that is getting figured out and subject to change. But once we have some core concrete info, we will certainly share more info, long before testing and release of Crossplay. But one thing to reiterate. Crossplay will not be this year. We know that is disappointing, but we need the year to work through a lot of the considerations we need to make for Crossplay.

o_Primate_o · April 28

maybe there will be more than three to five guild markets worthwhile to shop. once in a while i've seen some traders in DLCs (alinore, Lewellin, etc.) with just a few hundred items and not even one motif page.

Tandor · April 28

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi All, just wanted to follow up here. I know some folks would like info now, but we are still a bit too early for sharing anything. There is quite a bit that is getting figured out and subject to change. But once we have some core concrete info, we will certainly share more info, long before testing and release of Crossplay. But one thing to reiterate. Crossplay will not be this year. We know that is disappointing, but we need the year to work through a lot of the considerations we need to make for Crossplay.

Thanks for the response, Kevin, but I'm concerned that "long before testing and release of Crossplay" will, on past experience, mean "when decisions are set in stone".

Perhaps a middle-ground position would be to let the community know now what at least some of the considerations are that you need to work through so that feedback can be given before the team completes that work and reaches conclusions they can't vary from.

We've given in this and other threads - and will doubtless continue to do so - the sort of considerations that the community has. Are they included in the sort of considerations that the team is working through?

tomofhyrule · April 28

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi All, just wanted to follow up here. I know some folks would like info now, but we are still a bit too early for sharing anything. There is quite a bit that is getting figured out and subject to change. But once we have some core concrete info, we will certainly share more info, long before testing and release of Crossplay. But one thing to reiterate. Crossplay will not be this year. We know that is disappointing, but we need the year to work through a lot of the considerations we need to make for Crossplay.

Thanks Kevin, but I would hope that the team can still answer some of our questions and address our concerns relatively early in the process to avoid putting things on a path that can’t be altered with player feedback.

A lot of large changes we have had in the past have had unforeseen effects on certain playstyles, but since we only heard about it so late in the process, there was no way to address those concerns. As a result, these releases left certain playerbases feel unheard.
As a few examples: U33’s Account-Wide Achievements left no solution for players who prefer zone completion on a per-character basis or who want to see their characters as individuals. U46’s Subclassing left no solution for players who write their characters around their Class and still want to do high-level content at the same level as others (which the team then got into all the refreshes and Mastery passives for)

A lot of players have major concerns with two issues: name conflicts (account names, character names, and guild names), and economy inequality (guild trader and item costs based on average server wealth). Both of these issues are fairly foundational issues that the team will need to decide in very early in the process, so waiting until everything is finished and being polished to give us the details will definitely leave some players unhappy… with no way to adjust the foundation at that point.

virtus753 · April 28

GeneralGrundmann wrote: »

Name conflicts are technically almost no issue, for example a "PS Symbol", a "X" or the letters "PC" behind the player name is an easy solution.

No issue for display or backend, but what about for text entry by players? For people using character names to send mails or whispers (or even make reports), how would they be able to produce those icons in text? Is there a way to add them?

GeneralGrundmann · April 29

I would imagine that these icons get added to the text interface.

Another idea:
Aren't all names, titles and guild names written in white in the UI?

Would it be acceptable for role-playing gamers if identical names from different platforms get colour coded instead of icons or something similar?

Like, just for example, red for PC, green for XBox and blue for PS?

virtus753 · April 29

GeneralGrundmann wrote: »

I would imagine that these icons get added to the text interface.

Another idea:
Aren't all names, titles and guild names written in white in the UI?

Would it be acceptable for role-playing gamers if identical names from different platforms get colour coded instead of icons or something similar?

Like, just for example, red for PC, green for XBox and blue for PS?

There would need to be alternative options for color blindness, especially if red and green are going to be two of the three.

GeneralGrundmann · April 29

Hmmm, yellow or orange, black and blue would be better?

Another possibility might be that only the names from different platforms get different writing fonts. Although I am unsure how good this would work in practice.

edit for typo

keto3000 · April 29

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi All, just wanted to follow up here. I know some folks would like info now, but we are still a bit too early for sharing anything. There is quite a bit that is getting figured out and subject to change. But once we have some core concrete info, we will certainly share more info, long before testing and release of Crossplay. But one thing to reiterate. Crossplay will not be this year. We know that is disappointing, but we need the year to work through a lot of the considerations we need to make for Crossplay.

I sincerely hope that the team will reinstitute continued offical support for our native MAC silicon client as well!

frogthroat · April 29

keto3000 wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi All, just wanted to follow up here. I know some folks would like info now, but we are still a bit too early for sharing anything. There is quite a bit that is getting figured out and subject to change. But once we have some core concrete info, we will certainly share more info, long before testing and release of Crossplay. But one thing to reiterate. Crossplay will not be this year. We know that is disappointing, but we need the year to work through a lot of the considerations we need to make for Crossplay.

I sincerely hope that the team will reinstitute continued offical support for our native MAC silicon client as well!

PC and console players must put aside their differences and join forces against the evils of MAC gaming!

(Just kidding. Play on any platform you like. Just a bit of humour.)

heimdall14_9 · April 29

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi All, just wanted to follow up here. I know some folks would like info now, but we are still a bit too early for sharing anything. There is quite a bit that is getting figured out and subject to change. But once we have some core concrete info, we will certainly share more info, long before testing and release of Crossplay. But one thing to reiterate. Crossplay will not be this year. We know that is disappointing, but we need the year to work through a lot of the considerations we need to make for Crossplay.

Note: I am using AI to help me better format and express my thoughts and concerns.

I understand that Crossplay is a massive undertaking, but the "wait and see" approach is exactly what has the community on edge. We aren’t just looking for a release date; we are looking for a seat at the table before the blueprints are finished.

By the time you have "concrete info" to share, it’s usually too late for player feedback to actually change the outcome. We’ve seen time and again that when developers make fundamental changes behind closed doors, players don't just complain—they leave because they had no say. There are massive, game-breaking issues that we need to start talking about now, while things are still being "figured out":

The Trading Economy: Trader Guilds are the backbone of this community. Merging markets isn't just a technical toggle; it’s a total shift that affects years of player effort and the "slots" that people have worked hard to maintain. If you wait until the plan is final to tell us how you're handling the economic merge, the damage to player trust and market stability will already be done.

Competitive Integrity (PC vs. Console): The gap between hardware and input methods makes for an inherently unfair playing field. We need to be part of the discussion on balancing and "opt-out" mechanics before those systems are locked in, or players will move on to games that respect their preferred platform.

Community Retention: Players leave when they feel sidelined. If the "in-depth talks" don't start until right before testing, you’re going to find that the guilds and veterans you’re building this for have already moved on because they felt they were shut out of the process.

The community is already reacting to the news. We want to help you get this right, but that requires transparency and collaboration while these changes are still subject to change—not after the decisions are already made.

frogthroat · April 29

heimdall14_9 wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi All, just wanted to follow up here. I know some folks would like info now, but we are still a bit too early for sharing anything. There is quite a bit that is getting figured out and subject to change. But once we have some core concrete info, we will certainly share more info, long before testing and release of Crossplay. But one thing to reiterate. Crossplay will not be this year. We know that is disappointing, but we need the year to work through a lot of the considerations we need to make for Crossplay.

Note: I am using AI to help me better format and express my thoughts and concerns.

I understand that Crossplay is a massive undertaking, but the "wait and see" approach is exactly what has the community on edge. We aren’t just looking for a release date; we are looking for a seat at the table before the blueprints are finished.

By the time you have "concrete info" to share, it’s usually too late for player feedback to actually change the outcome. We’ve seen time and again that when developers make fundamental changes behind closed doors, players don't just complain—they leave because they had no say. There are massive, game-breaking issues that we need to start talking about now, while things are still being "figured out":

The Trading Economy: Trader Guilds are the backbone of this community. Merging markets isn't just a technical toggle; it’s a total shift that affects years of player effort and the "slots" that people have worked hard to maintain. If you wait until the plan is final to tell us how you're handling the economic merge, the damage to player trust and market stability will already be done.

Competitive Integrity (PC vs. Console): The gap between hardware and input methods makes for an inherently unfair playing field. We need to be part of the discussion on balancing and "opt-out" mechanics before those systems are locked in, or players will move on to games that respect their preferred platform.

Community Retention: Players leave when they feel sidelined. If the "in-depth talks" don't start until right before testing, you’re going to find that the guilds and veterans you’re building this for have already moved on because they felt they were shut out of the process.

The community is already reacting to the news. We want to help you get this right, but that requires transparency and collaboration while these changes are still subject to change—not after the decisions are already made.

Good points.

Well, the "Competitive integrity" part is not that huge issue other than that consoles need to be able to support all the graphics client side. I think ZOS has improved that a lot, though. But besides possible lag due to graphics, the requirements for this game are quite low. All supported hardware can send the required calls (which, I think, could even be lowered) and since this is not an fps, the controls are mainly about your preference. So as long as your console or potato PC doesn't choke when there's a million skill animations on screen, it should be fine. But yeah, I think the amount of elements/animations on screen has been the biggest hurdle for consoles so that might be an issue.

Trading, however, is indeed something that at first will require some balancing. Maybe more traders throughout Tamriel. If none are added, it will not destroy big console guilds, but force the lower end of them to the outskirts lone traders, while the biggest ones compete with the big PC guilds for the best spots. So all the currently available traders will be divided between the big guilds from all platforms. What it will (at first) destroy is all the casual/small trading guilds that will be left out regardless of their original platform. Over time this will even out, markets will find equilibrium, and with platforms mixing, the original platform of a trading guild will lose meaning. But I do hope more traders will be introduced so small and casual guilds will continue to have a go at trading, too.

twisttop138 · April 29

frogthroat wrote: »

heimdall14_9 wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi All, just wanted to follow up here. I know some folks would like info now, but we are still a bit too early for sharing anything. There is quite a bit that is getting figured out and subject to change. But once we have some core concrete info, we will certainly share more info, long before testing and release of Crossplay. But one thing to reiterate. Crossplay will not be this year. We know that is disappointing, but we need the year to work through a lot of the considerations we need to make for Crossplay.

Note: I am using AI to help me better format and express my thoughts and concerns.

I understand that Crossplay is a massive undertaking, but the "wait and see" approach is exactly what has the community on edge. We aren’t just looking for a release date; we are looking for a seat at the table before the blueprints are finished.

By the time you have "concrete info" to share, it’s usually too late for player feedback to actually change the outcome. We’ve seen time and again that when developers make fundamental changes behind closed doors, players don't just complain—they leave because they had no say. There are massive, game-breaking issues that we need to start talking about now, while things are still being "figured out":

The Trading Economy: Trader Guilds are the backbone of this community. Merging markets isn't just a technical toggle; it’s a total shift that affects years of player effort and the "slots" that people have worked hard to maintain. If you wait until the plan is final to tell us how you're handling the economic merge, the damage to player trust and market stability will already be done.

Competitive Integrity (PC vs. Console): The gap between hardware and input methods makes for an inherently unfair playing field. We need to be part of the discussion on balancing and "opt-out" mechanics before those systems are locked in, or players will move on to games that respect their preferred platform.

Community Retention: Players leave when they feel sidelined. If the "in-depth talks" don't start until right before testing, you’re going to find that the guilds and veterans you’re building this for have already moved on because they felt they were shut out of the process.

The community is already reacting to the news. We want to help you get this right, but that requires transparency and collaboration while these changes are still subject to change—not after the decisions are already made.

Good points.

Well, the "Competitive integrity" part is not that huge issue other than that consoles need to be able to support all the graphics client side. I think ZOS has improved that a lot, though. But besides possible lag due to graphics, the requirements for this game are quite low. All supported hardware can send the required calls (which, I think, could even be lowered) and since this is not an fps, the controls are mainly about your preference. So as long as your console or potato PC doesn't choke when there's a million skill animations on screen, it should be fine. But yeah, I think the amount of elements/animations on screen has been the biggest hurdle for consoles so that might be an issue.

Trading, however, is indeed something that at first will require some balancing. Maybe more traders throughout Tamriel. If none are added, it will not destroy big console guilds, but force the lower end of them to the outskirts lone traders, while the biggest ones compete with the big PC guilds for the best spots. So all the currently available traders will be divided between the big guilds from all platforms. What it will (at first) destroy is all the casual/small trading guilds that will be left out regardless of their original platform. Over time this will even out, markets will find equilibrium, and with platforms mixing, the original platform of a trading guild will lose meaning. But I do hope more traders will be introduced so small and casual guilds will continue to have a go at trading, too.

To your point about trading. Sure stuff will equal out and whatever. I think the point though, is that people don't want to go through this. They don't want their small guilds crushed. They don't wanna be pushed to the margins. This is a game, not wall street. It needs to be figured out so this does not happen. This should be a joyous thing, a thing to celebrate, not worry about who's going to be crushed and left behind for the march of progress. That's a huge worry in the real world, leave it OUT of my video games. Not saying you're implying any of that, it's just my general thought.

MJallday · April 29

Theres far too many considerations to work through for crossplay to be a consideration anytime shortly

character names
guild names
which platforms are they going to include, exclude and when
how will patching and updates work
how does keyboard and mouse work versus controller only on consoles (assuming pc is crossed with console)
where will the servers be located , us, eu, - are more needed? are less needed?
what is the capacity of the hardware looking like if the servers suddently go from 10% population to 90%?
what does that do to software performance
how are scroreboards going to be integrated
how do addons work?
how do anti-cheat mechanisms work?
what does this do for guild traders/bidding ?
what does this do for the player experience?

and this is just off of the top of my head

all of its doable - with time , money, resource.
if you'd like an analogy. its better to build a ferrari from scratch, than start with a ford fiesta and try to make it a ferrari.