Another Reason You Will NEVER get ESO Cross Play

trackdemon5512

I've always been in the camp that I enjoy that ESO is specifically on individual consoles and that there is a measure of fairness with regards to play, controllers, and add-ons with doing so. I'm totally for keeping the console servers separate and each play experience is balanced within its own ecosystem. Today the Epic vs Apple lawsuit finally headed to court and among one of the lines from Epic CEO Tim Sweeney was this tidbit regarding Cross Play:

"Sony has a policy that requires if the ratio of payments across platforms for a given PS user gets out of sync with the playtime, then we have to pay them a commission on other platform revenue," [Tim] Sweeney said. "So if someone were primarily playing on PS but paying on iPhone, they'd [inaudible] compensation to Sony."

This makes sense as you don't want any one service hosting and bearing the brunt of gameplay and its cost while competitors make money off the micro transactions and fees collected. In the case of ESO it would be akin to buying DLCs and Crowns on PC and then playing only on console. Under these term ZOS would likely have to pay Sony a commission on all the currencies/DLCs purchased on every other consoles and that would be such a headache in addition to coding all three platforms to mesh well together.

VaranisArano

Interesting. I hadn't considered revenue sharing.

Now, from the same article, it appears that "Normally, Sweeney acknowledged, when V-Bucks are purchased on one platform and used on another, every platform involved in the transaction gets a cut — but in the very specific cases that he outlined, Sony gets a little bit more."

So, yes, ZOS would always certainly have to figure out a revenue-sharing policy for cross-wallet purchases before cross-play could go ahead. However, in the case of ESO I don't think it's necessarily a given that Sony would have the pull to insist on extra profit over and above Xbox.

trackdemon5512

VaranisArano wrote: »

Interesting. I hadn't considered revenue sharing.

Now, from the same article, it appears that "Normally, Sweeney acknowledged, when V-Bucks are purchased on one platform and used on another, every platform involved in the transaction gets a cut — but in the very specific cases that he outlined, Sony gets a little bit more."

So, yes, ZOS would always certainly have to figure out a revenue-sharing policy for cross-wallet purchases before cross-play could go ahead. However, in the case of ESO I don't think it's necessarily a given that Sony would have the pull to insist on extra profit over and above Xbox.

So looking back at Sony and crossplay it really has only been done in limited circumstances and virtually never with Microsoft. Of those limited circumstances it’s clear Sony had a more than a firm hand in development of the produce. Street Fighter 5 is a clear example and Final Fantasy XIV another. There has been a long long cooperation between Square Enix and Sony such that it’s often floated that Square could become a Sony studio. MLB the Show is now on XBOX but that’s a Sony developed title and like Minecraft Sony takes a cut of every sale.

Bringing this back to ESO it’s not like Microsoft would get a cut of every DLC sale from crossplay but the problems and accounting abound. Dealing with transactions across three platforms with two regions apiece is a lot. Each market on each console has different rules and it’s likely a logistical nightmare. Epic probably puts up with it because it significantly increased engagement and profits on a game that is technically free to play. But with a game like ESO which as great as it is still isn’t Fortnite, Minecraft, or Call of Duty the costs of crossplay likely just aren’t worth it.

Snowstrider

Explain final fantasy

FaylenSol

Snowstrider wrote: »

Explain final fantasy

Final Fantasy is only PC and Playstation Crossplay. No other company involvement. Square Enix also has a long history of exclusivity with Sony and is likely getting special treatment.

Amottica

Wow, That would be solid justification for not going that route.

Inaya

FaylenSol wrote: »

Snowstrider wrote: »

Explain final fantasy

Final Fantasy is only PC and Playstation Crossplay. No other company involvement. Square Enix also has a long history of exclusivity with Sony and is likely getting special treatment.

Final Fantasy has been Playstation/PC cross play since FFXI

FantasticFreddie

Does anyone want cross play? Has anyone asked for this? I feel lost.
Seems like addons make for a wide gap between console and pc players..... just the quality of life and ease of play is better on PC and I think if crossplay was enabled console players would lag behind in anything competitive, be in pvp or leaderboard scores.

Linaleah

Inaya wrote: »

FaylenSol wrote: »

Snowstrider wrote: »

Explain final fantasy

Final Fantasy is only PC and Playstation Crossplay. No other company involvement. Square Enix also has a long history of exclusivity with Sony and is likely getting special treatment.

Final Fantasy has been Playstation/PC cross play since FFXI

and what do you know, it also corresponds to Sony purchasing a stake in Square (18% according to wikipedia article).

aka - Sony had personal, vested interest in that company all along.

that said, financial considerations aside... have any of you actualy PLAYED final fantasy 14? the combat is much MUCH slower, much more cooldown based. there is NO weaving. and there are no addons allowed (they exist, but you are risking a ban even if you are just using cosmetic stuff), instead base UI is a bit more robust then what ESO offers, while still limiting amount of necessary keybinds. so performance differences between PC and playstation are all but nonexistent.

josiahva

FantasticFreddie wrote: »

Does anyone want cross play? Has anyone asked for this? I feel lost.
Seems like addons make for a wide gap between console and pc players..... just the quality of life and ease of play is better on PC and I think if crossplay was enabled console players would lag behind in anything competitive, be in pvp or leaderboard scores.

Why do you think this? Because of the controller thing? Its not the issue you think it is. Maybe for leaderboard DPS trials(maybe), but the reality is when you play with a controller instead of a keyboard...you simply adjust to the differences. I think I used keyboard and mouse for about a month when I first started....but I quickly swapped to the controller mode as soon as it became available and have stayed with it ever since. Its not the handicap you think it is, and the only people who would really care are those in the top 5-10%. There are plenty of people who would like cross-play to be able to play with friends on other platforms. I guess it all depends on how you play though...virtually all of us who actually post on these boards...our opinions are in the minority, the vast majority of players are much more casual. Take anything you read on here with a grain of salt because you can guarantee the vast majority of people playing the game don't think the same thing...if they even think about any of the topics discussed here at all.

VaranisArano

FantasticFreddie wrote: »

Does anyone want cross play? Has anyone asked for this? I feel lost.
Seems like addons make for a wide gap between console and pc players..... just the quality of life and ease of play is better on PC and I think if crossplay was enabled console players would lag behind in anything competitive, be in pvp or leaderboard scores.

People tend to ask for it when they realize that swapping from their previous platform to a new one, such as buying a new console or a new PC, means starting over completely with a new account.

That doesn't negate the difficties inherent in cross-play, such as addons, mixing the server economies, or the technical details of how ZOS manages our account info, but I can understand the urge to ask for cross-play and account transfers when the alternative would be losing my years of progress and purchased content on the PC for a brand new account on console.

BXR_Lonestar

Console shouldn't have to cross-play with PC. PC has access to too many add-ons that give them huge advantages that we just can't match on console. I'd be down for cross-play between Xbox and PS, but for Console and PC? No thanks. Pass.

Danikat

FantasticFreddie wrote: »

Does anyone want cross play? Has anyone asked for this? I feel lost.
Seems like addons make for a wide gap between console and pc players..... just the quality of life and ease of play is better on PC and I think if crossplay was enabled console players would lag behind in anything competitive, be in pvp or leaderboard scores.

Yes it's asked for frequently. You can use the search feature to find the previous forum topics.

I'd like it because then my husband and I could play together. We don't have enough space to set up 2 PCs or any need for another one, but we do have a PS4 so if cross-play was possible we could both play together. Same goes for various friends, instead of going "Oh you play ESO as well? Oh, that's a shame, you're on a different platform, we can't play together" we could actually arrange to meet up and do things in the game.

I suppose if leaderboards are important to you that could be a problem, but maybe they could continue to divide those by platform. But it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of players don't care about leaderboards or exact DPS numbers or whatever and would choose to prioritise playing with their friends over the reassurance that everyone they might meet from a top-tier trial guild is using every available tool to make it easier on themselves.

(Is there a way to see other platforms leaderboards now? I never look at them so I'm not sure, but it would be interesting to see how big the difference between platforms is currently to get an idea of the impact cross-play could have.)

FantasticFreddie

josiahva wrote: »

FantasticFreddie wrote: »

Does anyone want cross play? Has anyone asked for this? I feel lost.
Seems like addons make for a wide gap between console and pc players..... just the quality of life and ease of play is better on PC and I think if crossplay was enabled console players would lag behind in anything competitive, be in pvp or leaderboard scores.

Why do you think this? Because of the controller thing? Its not the issue you think it is. Maybe for leaderboard DPS trials(maybe), but the reality is when you play with a controller instead of a keyboard...you simply adjust to the differences. I think I used keyboard and mouse for about a month when I first started....but I quickly swapped to the controller mode as soon as it became available and have stayed with it ever since. Its not the handicap you think it is, and the only people who would really care are those in the top 5-10%. There are plenty of people who would like cross-play to be able to play with friends on other platforms. I guess it all depends on how you play though...virtually all of us who actually post on these boards...our opinions are in the minority, the vast majority of players are much more casual. Take anything you read on here with a grain of salt because you can guarantee the vast majority of people playing the game don't think the same thing...if they even think about any of the topics discussed here at all.

Addons.

Not even ones like Codes that give you heads up on so many mechanics, but simple ones.... dressing room, synergy blocker, not to mention pvp-- I think addons make for a huge play difference in pvp.

The only way to make it fair across platform is to completely ban all addons from pc, and I would HATE going back to the vanilla UI

trackdemon5512

FantasticFreddie wrote: »

josiahva wrote: »

FantasticFreddie wrote: »

Does anyone want cross play? Has anyone asked for this? I feel lost.
Seems like addons make for a wide gap between console and pc players..... just the quality of life and ease of play is better on PC and I think if crossplay was enabled console players would lag behind in anything competitive, be in pvp or leaderboard scores.

Why do you think this? Because of the controller thing? Its not the issue you think it is. Maybe for leaderboard DPS trials(maybe), but the reality is when you play with a controller instead of a keyboard...you simply adjust to the differences. I think I used keyboard and mouse for about a month when I first started....but I quickly swapped to the controller mode as soon as it became available and have stayed with it ever since. Its not the handicap you think it is, and the only people who would really care are those in the top 5-10%. There are plenty of people who would like cross-play to be able to play with friends on other platforms. I guess it all depends on how you play though...virtually all of us who actually post on these boards...our opinions are in the minority, the vast majority of players are much more casual. Take anything you read on here with a grain of salt because you can guarantee the vast majority of people playing the game don't think the same thing...if they even think about any of the topics discussed here at all.

Addons.

Not even ones like Codes that give you heads up on so many mechanics, but simple ones.... dressing room, synergy blocker, not to mention pvp-- I think addons make for a huge play difference in pvp.

The only way to make it fair across platform is to completely ban all addons from pc, and I would HATE going back to the vanilla UI

Yeah. Off the top of my head I remember the first time I watched a VASHM clear and noticed that PC had useful add-ons like timers for the two saints reviving, countdowns for maelstrom bows and staves, incoming attacks, etc. Console gets none of that as you said.

Sony and Nintendo have a bunch of reasons not to allow add-ons. Essentially its developer sanctioned coding but that doesn't mean that it doesn't have risks. The "Hot Coffee" incident's repercussions have gone on for decades after it happened. Nintendo, Sony, and Apple all keep their ecosystems tight to prevent abuse. Sony has even more of a reason because its console is favored for eSports and tournaments like EVO.

I don't see add-ons ever being implemented on Sony, maybe Xbox. And with such a difference in experience I don't expect either cross-save or cross-play as being feasible.

Goregrinder

FantasticFreddie wrote: »

Does anyone want cross play? Has anyone asked for this? I feel lost.
Seems like addons make for a wide gap between console and pc players..... just the quality of life and ease of play is better on PC and I think if crossplay was enabled console players would lag behind in anything competitive, be in pvp or leaderboard scores.

I wouldn't say I really want it, but I wouldn't mind PVPing against PS and Xbox players.

Hapexamendios

I NEVER asked for it.

PrimusTiberius

I read an article similar to this today and I can say I can see it from both sides, its a business decision with who can use Sony's servers, they don't want a large population of players, playing on their severs without some form of compensation. Someone has to pay to keep the lights on.

16BitForestCat

FaylenSol wrote: »

Final Fantasy is only PC and Playstation Crossplay. No other company involvement. Square Enix also has a long history of exclusivity with Sony and is likely getting special treatment.

Yup. A lot of people, mostly younger gamers, forget or never knew that SquEnix and Sony have been in bed since the 1990s, when Square Enix was still Square Co./Squaresoft. (History lesson for the curious masses: Square had been a Nintendo developer prior to that. Final Fantasy VII was Squaresoft's breaking point. It was supposed to be for the N64, but would never fit on a cartridge--which were also much more expensive to make than CD's. Square went to Sony so they could basically make the game they wanted to, which would only fit on CD and be cheaper to produce in that format. Secret of Mana was also a victim of Nintendo's [admittedly ridiculous] determination to stick with cartridge-based formats and their absolute failure with the CD-i. The whole game couldn't fit on a cartridge, so a ton of content was stripped from Mana and given to the dev team who would later make Chrono Trigger. That's right--much of the stuff so loved about Chrono Trigger was supposed to be in Secret of Mana. It's also why Randi/Crono and Primm/Marle are very similar. Mana was even originally called Chrono Trigger while in development, though before that, it was supposed to be the original Final Fantasy IV. I love this useless trivia, haha.)

Pauwer

Goregrinder wrote: »

FantasticFreddie wrote: »

Does anyone want cross play? Has anyone asked for this? I feel lost.
Seems like addons make for a wide gap between console and pc players..... just the quality of life and ease of play is better on PC and I think if crossplay was enabled console players would lag behind in anything competitive, be in pvp or leaderboard scores.

I wouldn't say I really want it, but I wouldn't mind PVPing against PS and Xbox players.

I would also like this, because it would bring more pvp to consoles. Like when i played on pc more (with no add ons, on controller mode and still was able to play with no issues) the campaings were full, all of them. I played the no-cp campaing and it was full on peak times and always had some bars. I have never seen even one bar on any faction on console in the no-cp campaing. I want more pvp players.

FlamingMeat

>.>

Looks at Dead by Daylight that is across 6 platforms.

<.<

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