lordrichter wrote: »Announce it on ESO Live? This week? No.
EDIT: The might wait until the first week in April, for all we know. That is plenty of time to run a beta and still roll it out in 2Q, if that is what they want to do.
Vanthras79 wrote: »@ZOS_GinaBruno I would love some nuggets!
Seraphayel wrote: »lordrichter wrote: »Announce it on ESO Live? This week? No.
EDIT: The might wait until the first week in April, for all we know. That is plenty of time to run a beta and still roll it out in 2Q, if that is what they want to do.
Q2 ends June 30th. To announce it in April and get everything ready, Beta up etc. within ~ 2 months sounds like a very tough schedule. For Morrowind they had ~ 4 months.
lordrichter wrote: »Announce it on ESO Live? This week? No.
EDIT: The might wait until the first week in April, for all we know. That is plenty of time to run a beta and still roll it out in 2Q, if that is what they want to do.
lordrichter wrote: »Seraphayel wrote: »lordrichter wrote: »Announce it on ESO Live? This week? No.
EDIT: The might wait until the first week in April, for all we know. That is plenty of time to run a beta and still roll it out in 2Q, if that is what they want to do.
Q2 ends June 30th. To announce it in April and get everything ready, Beta up etc. within ~ 2 months sounds like a very tough schedule. For Morrowind they had ~ 4 months.
Last time it was a combination of hype and the need to communicate a change in how they were doing content that negatively impacted ESO Plus subscribers. They don't need to do the latter this year, which is why we have not heard anything this year.
Marketing only gets one chance to play this year, and they are not going to do it on ESO Live. PAX East is in early April, and the timing is good. That is when I think we will hear about it, formally. They could announce it on April 5 and have people in the PTS beta on April 9. That would give them 8 beta weeks to the first week in June. They could launch PC/Mac on June 4 and console 2 weeks later, or have PC/Mac sit around until June 18 or 25 and launch everyone at the same time.
lordrichter wrote: »Announce it on ESO Live? This week? No.
EDIT: The might wait until the first week in April, for all we know. That is plenty of time to run a beta and still roll it out in 2Q, if that is what they want to do.
The problem is, they need enough time to get it out to physical RETAILERS. Typical DLCs are not shipped to retailers to prepare and stock in stores, let alone sell collectible versions. All of this requires lead time and preparation, so if they intend to get it out for June, they need to start preparing physical retailers ASAP.
Seraphayel wrote: »I would totally agree with you if
a) PAX East would be a thing for non-American players
b) it would be sooner than April
Your arguments are good and marketing is and always has been a big thing for ZOS but I am still optimistic we will hear about it sooner. And if there will be another physical CE I think they want the pre orders starting as soon as possible. If it gets delayed and won't release in Q2 I'd say they will announce it indeed on PAX East as you said!
And I think Chapters release simultaneously on every platform.
The problem is, they need enough time to get it out to physical RETAILERS. Typical DLCs are not shipped to retailers to prepare and stock in stores, let alone sell collectible versions. All of this requires lead time and preparation, so if they intend to get it out for June, they need to start preparing physical retailers ASAP.
lordrichter wrote: »Announce it on ESO Live? This week? No.
The problem is, they need enough time to get it out to physical RETAILERS. Typical DLCs are not shipped to retailers to prepare and stock in stores, let alone sell collectible versions. All of this requires lead time and preparation, so if they intend to get it out for June, they need to start preparing physical retailers ASAP.
I'd say, only if there were a physical product, but even then... not quite.
Any manufacturing would be completed prior to the Chinese New Year factory hiatus (this year, February 16 through March 2), so any physical items would be stateside or very near to stateside by now. The physical discs have no new media on them as all Chapter information would be downloaded with Update 18.
So I don't see any timetable problems with a physical edition, if there even is one this time around. There's no rush to announce.
So ZOS have to pay for the storage. In the unlikely event that they already have a building with enough space to safely store all the copies that cost may be minimal, but it still exists and will eat into the profit from the chapter.
Did they say the chapter would come out in Q2?
As far as I knew the only schedule they'd given was 1 chapter, 1 dungeon DLC, 1 story DLC and 1 free update each year. They never said they would be released in the same order or at the same time each year. They've already broken the 'pattern' by releasing Dragonbones (and dungeon DLC) in Q1 when they released Homestead last year, so I don't see any reason they have to release a chapter in Q2.The problem is, they need enough time to get it out to physical RETAILERS. Typical DLCs are not shipped to retailers to prepare and stock in stores, let alone sell collectible versions. All of this requires lead time and preparation, so if they intend to get it out for June, they need to start preparing physical retailers ASAP.
I'd say, only if there were a physical product, but even then... not quite.
Any manufacturing would be completed prior to the Chinese New Year factory hiatus (this year, February 16 through March 2), so any physical items would be stateside or very near to stateside by now. The physical discs have no new media on them as all Chapter information would be downloaded with Update 18.
So I don't see any timetable problems with a physical edition, if there even is one this time around. There's no rush to announce.
It would be a huge waste of money for the physical copies to be shipped out before the game is even announced because then they have to be stored for months before they can be sold. Storage isn't free - even if you already own the warehouse you need to pay for security, temperature control (even if that's just keeping it barely warm/dry enough that you don't damage the discs that costs money) and basic maintenance to the building- more likely you need at least a few staff to maintain it, take in deliveries, organise out-going shipments and keep track of where everything is.
Stores are not going to take in copies this early because they have exactly the same costs for warehouses and usually very limited storage space in the stores themselves which they need to use for products they can actually sell, not ones that will be gathering dust for months.
So ZOS have to pay for the storage. In the unlikely event that they already have a building with enough space to safely store all the copies that cost may be minimal, but it still exists and will eat into the profit from the chapter.
It would make much more sense for them to arrange for the copies to be shipped shortly before release, so they spend as little time as possible sitting around and the whole process is cheaper and less likely to go wrong.
Yolokin_Swagonborn wrote: »I hope they never announce it and instead make it a DLC like it should be.