tomofhyrule wrote: »They've mentioned why the transfers work and have worked as they do and why it wouldn't work in the way others envision several times. In short, they're doing a copy/replace. The PTS doesn't have NA and EU characters - it's NA or EU, and it gets wiped every time there's a change.
If the target database is empty (so the console databases before they released, or the PTS after the data is wiped), then it's not a problem to copy things into that database. What they can't do is copy things into a database that already has things in it, at least not without MAJOR work trying to change things. As it stands, the only way they could copy the PS server to PC would be to delete everyone currently on PC in the process.
Imagine it this way. Player 1 on PC makes three characters names A, B, and C. Player 2 then makes D and E, Player 3 makes F, G, and H, and Player 4 makes I. So the database has nine characters in in across four players. Imagine also that the console Player 1 has A and B, and then Player 2 makes C, D, E, and F; and then Player 3 (who is an alt account of PC player 2) makes G and H.
Now, let's say console player 2 wants to move to PC. That means that:
- A blank account (Player 5) on PC needs to be created
- PC already has a "player 2," so a temp file needs to be created so all references to Player 2 (console) can be set to point to Player 5 (PC)
- Characters C, D, E, F need to have names and references changed
- All references to old Player 2 (console) need to be removed
- etc.
This is not a trivial process. A lot of people think it's just copy/paste a folder, but there are references all over the game to all of the housing, storage, bank space, etc, and every one of those elements would need to be changed over manually. That would essentially be someone's full-time job, to move a player into a different server. And let's not even pretend that that won't end up with fragmented data and the high potential for bugs and glitches.
Besides, there is definitely some legal-ese in allowing one system to poach from another server. I can't imagine that things like Crown or DLC sales will not give some revenue to the consoles as well, and I can't imagine a company like Sony being very happy about losing more profit potential to Microsoft by letting players jump around.
Sure it could be done but it is highly unlikely to happen.
The main reason is that our in-game crown purchases are server specific which means those players that already play on both servers likely have purchased many of the same items such as mounts and houses on both servers. That would mean Zenimax would have to refund crowns to provide a server that will not generate revenue. That is the main reason this will not happen.
phaneub17_ESO wrote: »What if... Ultimate Cyrodiil PCNA vs PCEU. Devs, Mods, and GMs are the third faction.