Any crossplay plans coming with the new servers changes?
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• Xbox: NA and EU megaservers for maintenance – March 19, 6:00AM EDT (10:00 UTC) - 9:00AM EDT (13:00 UTC)
• PlayStation®: NA and EU megaservers for maintenance – March 19, 6:00AM EDT (10:00 UTC) - 9:00AM EDT (13:00 UTC)
• PC/Mac: No maintenance – March 17
• Xbox: NA and EU megaservers for maintenance – March 19, 6:00AM EDT (10:00 UTC) - 9:00AM EDT (13:00 UTC)
• PlayStation®: NA and EU megaservers for maintenance – March 19, 6:00AM EDT (10:00 UTC) - 9:00AM EDT (13:00 UTC)
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RebornV3x✭✭✭✭✭
✭I hope we can get some sort of cross save or a way to import characters to other platforms soonXbox One - NA GT: RebornV3x
I also play on PC from time to time but I just wanna be left alone on there so sorry.0 -
pecheckler✭✭✭✭✭Population of players is too low for crossplay not to be on the to-do list.End the tedious inventory management game.0 -
Avoriaa✭✭This is a pretty long thread so sorry if this was already brought up, but a couple of simple (maybe stepping stone) solutions could be to;
Make all account and non-item based features be cross platform.- Such as collectibles, achievements, etc.
- This would allow us to play with friends without feeling like we never played the game.
- Even champion points would effect very little as you'd still have to make a character and level to 50 like anyone else.
Allow the server selection screen to include all current console and PC servers.- We can just switch characters instead of having to... yknow buy a PS5/Xbox + a new copy of the game + any DLC we had to play with friends.
- I don't see how this could hurt
Hi Hello1 -
RicAlmighty wrote: »This will never happen. The economies of each platform are so wildly different that there is no way to reconcile them without massive changes. No way Zos does this. Plus, Zos has a hard enough time with stable netcode on one platform, I cannot imagine them being able to pull this off seamlessly.
They said the same thing about the addons in the console "this will never happen..." ha ha2 -
While we don't have any news to share about cross-play or cross-save functionality at this time, we want to acknowledge that we do see this request often. We'd like to hear your thoughts on the reasons why you would like to see this functionality in ESO. What pain points are you running into that this would help solve? The feedback here is helpful for us to share with the team.
play with my PC friends... the console servers are undercrowded... all modern MMOs already have crossplay (throne and liberty, first descendant, even diablo 4 and POE 2...)1 -
Maitsukas✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Read everything in the quoted text below carefully and try to offer sensible solutions for people like me, that are fully against crossplay:SpoilerI know it's a huge ask but if they have any ambition for the future cross play should be a serious consideration for a long term goal to keep populations high consistently
Check this from an earlier point in the thread:MISTFORMBZZZ wrote: »[snip]
Didnt you have a thread recently where Kevin answered they are looking into crossplay? Im pretty sure Zos are working on crossplay and might even announce it on Console 10 year anniversary
They need to circumvent several problems, that were brought up in another thread:tomofhyrule wrote: »The problem with Crossplay is that ESO is set up with a megaserver architecture. As the devs have said several times, there is no way to merge the servers as is.
What they would need to do to enable crossplay is essentially make a new server and then copy the existing accounts into the new server, before finally deleting the old megaservers.
That of course leads to questions:- If two players have the same account name, which player is forced to change it? This is doubly difficult since the @ name for console is the gamertag from the console, so then if you have the same tag as an account on the other console, it would conflict. Also remember that it would be a brand new server, so would they have to append "-XB" or "-PS" onto every account name for that?
- How would you deal with character name conflicts. Again, ESO is set up assuming that every character on a server has a unique name. If all consoles were condensed into one megaserver, then who wins name conflicts?
- Which servers are set to merge? Are they supposed to merge all four console servers into one, or will it just be two regional servers: console EU and console NA?
- Will the legal teams play nice with that? I'm sure there are a lot of legalese they have to get through, specifically in the case that Sony will not be okay with the idea of people being able to not play on a Sony console.
There is a lot more involved in this than "oh, let's just push the 'crossplay on' button," and ZOS has been saying for years what their architecture is and how it differs from the architecture of other MMOs (i.e. the Megaserver architecture that allows literally every account on one server to interact). However, that makes adding crossplay much harder and will almost take a reimagining of the 10-year old system. Deleting and remaking the servers into one seems like the best possible option, but it would be ripe for conflicts... and the fact that we had the PTS/PCNA issue in April doesn't do much to inspire confidence.tomofhyrule wrote: »- If two players have the same account name, which player is forced to change it? This is doubly difficult since the @ name for console is the gamertag from the console, so then if you have the same tag as an account on the other console, it would conflict. Also remember that it would be a brand new server, so would they have to append "-XB" or "-PS" onto every account name for that?
- How would you deal with character name conflicts. Again, ESO is set up assuming that every character on a server has a unique name. If all consoles were condensed into one megaserver, then who wins name conflicts?
This basically also applies to player guilds, and that one is really problematic, since there is no way for players to change the name of the guild.
And what if you allready have an account on both system? Would you have 40 characters on the merged account, if you have both accounts maxed out ?
Going to add another issue that can arise:
What happens if you have different projects in the same house spread across multiple servers (for example, you've done one big build for the Grand Psijic Villa on PC-EU, but you've made something completely different in the same house but on PS-EU)? Which housing project would you be willing to sacrifice for crossplay?PC-EU @maitsukas
Posting the Infinite Archive and Imperial City Weekly Vendor updates.
Also trying out new Main Quests, Companions, ToT decks, Events and Styles on PTS.3 -
pecheckler✭✭✭✭✭There's no reason to not have xbox <--> playstation crossplay, other than zenimax being unwilling to make the investment.End the tedious inventory management game.1
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sans-culottes✭✭✭✭✭Read everything in the quoted text below carefully and try to offer sensible solutions for people like me, that are fully against crossplay:SpoilerI know it's a huge ask but if they have any ambition for the future cross play should be a serious consideration for a long term goal to keep populations high consistently
Check this from an earlier point in the thread:MISTFORMBZZZ wrote: »[snip]
Didnt you have a thread recently where Kevin answered they are looking into crossplay? Im pretty sure Zos are working on crossplay and might even announce it on Console 10 year anniversary
They need to circumvent several problems, that were brought up in another thread:tomofhyrule wrote: »The problem with Crossplay is that ESO is set up with a megaserver architecture. As the devs have said several times, there is no way to merge the servers as is.
What they would need to do to enable crossplay is essentially make a new server and then copy the existing accounts into the new server, before finally deleting the old megaservers.
That of course leads to questions:- If two players have the same account name, which player is forced to change it? This is doubly difficult since the @ name for console is the gamertag from the console, so then if you have the same tag as an account on the other console, it would conflict. Also remember that it would be a brand new server, so would they have to append "-XB" or "-PS" onto every account name for that?
- How would you deal with character name conflicts. Again, ESO is set up assuming that every character on a server has a unique name. If all consoles were condensed into one megaserver, then who wins name conflicts?
- Which servers are set to merge? Are they supposed to merge all four console servers into one, or will it just be two regional servers: console EU and console NA?
- Will the legal teams play nice with that? I'm sure there are a lot of legalese they have to get through, specifically in the case that Sony will not be okay with the idea of people being able to not play on a Sony console.
There is a lot more involved in this than "oh, let's just push the 'crossplay on' button," and ZOS has been saying for years what their architecture is and how it differs from the architecture of other MMOs (i.e. the Megaserver architecture that allows literally every account on one server to interact). However, that makes adding crossplay much harder and will almost take a reimagining of the 10-year old system. Deleting and remaking the servers into one seems like the best possible option, but it would be ripe for conflicts... and the fact that we had the PTS/PCNA issue in April doesn't do much to inspire confidence.tomofhyrule wrote: »- If two players have the same account name, which player is forced to change it? This is doubly difficult since the @ name for console is the gamertag from the console, so then if you have the same tag as an account on the other console, it would conflict. Also remember that it would be a brand new server, so would they have to append "-XB" or "-PS" onto every account name for that?
- How would you deal with character name conflicts. Again, ESO is set up assuming that every character on a server has a unique name. If all consoles were condensed into one megaserver, then who wins name conflicts?
This basically also applies to player guilds, and that one is really problematic, since there is no way for players to change the name of the guild.
And what if you allready have an account on both system? Would you have 40 characters on the merged account, if you have both accounts maxed out ?
Going to add another issue that can arise:
What happens if you have different projects in the same house spread across multiple servers (for example, you've done one big build for the Grand Psijic Villa on PC-EU, but you've made something completely different in the same house but on PS-EU)? Which housing project would you be willing to sacrifice for crossplay?
It’s fine that you’re against this. Many of us on consoles are not. I’d love for them to implement cross play and/or cross-progression. Console servers are a bit of an afterthought for ZOS.0 -
LalMirchi✭✭✭✭✭
✭Perhaps when add-ons come at last to consoles the barriers to cross-play are falling?2 -
Jestir✭✭✭✭I would think "cross play" with how the servers in this game are set up would be more opening the servers up than a merger
Like instead of pc na, Xbox na, and ps na only available on that platform
It would be na 1, na 2, na 3 with them defaulting to whatever it was previously based on platform but allowing a player to change if they want
Obviously the issue with that is all progress is lost but its something at least1 -
SilverBride✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Even with consoles now having access to add-ons I am not sure it's a good idea. The economies between the consoles and PC are very different. I'm not sure how well they would blend and not create conflict.
Then how would they deal with the voice chat that consoles have? I hope they never bring something like that to PC.Edited by SilverBride on January 26, 2025 4:20PMPCNA0 -
LalMirchi✭✭✭✭✭
✭There is an infinitesimal glimmer of hope where there was none.
No cause for joy but no cause for gloom either.0 -
Arunei✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭I thought one big reason there was no crossplay was because of Sony? Something to do with their policies or something, or not agreeing with ZOS'?
Oh, I might be misremembering. It could be to do with the fact that console is two weeks behind on their server updates? Because Sony and MS need to do their vetting process for every update. If there's crossplay, wouldn't that mean communication between all the servers? How would console handle code that was only on PC? Unless they delayed PC updates to release with console ones, then that wouldn't be an issue.Edited by Arunei on January 26, 2025 5:44PMCharacter List [RP and PvE]:SpoilerStands-Against-Death: Argonian Magplar Healer - Crafter
Krisiel: Redguard Stamsorc DPS - Literally crazy Werewolf, no like legit insane. She nuts
Kiju Veran: Khajiit Stamblade DPS - Ex-Fighters Guild Suthay who likes to punch things, nicknamed Tinykat
Niralae Elsinal: Altmer Stamsorc DPS - Young Altmer with way too much Magicka
Sarah Lacroix: Breton Magsorc DPS - Fledgling Vampire who drinks too much water
Slondor: Nord Tankblade - TESified verson of Slenderman
Marius Vastino: Imperial <insert role here> - Sarah's apathetic sire who likes to monologue
Delthor Rellenar: Dunmer Magknight DPS - Sarah's ex who's a certified psychopath
Lirawyn Calatare: Altmer Magplar Healer - Traveling performer and bard who's 101% vanilla bean
Gondryn Beldeau: Breton Tankplar - Sarah's Mages Guild mentor and certified badass old person
Gwendolyn Jenelle: Breton Magplar Healer - Friendly healer with a coffee addiction
Soliril Larethian- Altmer Magblade DPS - Blind alchemist who uses animals to see and brews plagues in his spare time
Tevril Rallenar: Dunmer Stamcro DPS - Delthor's "special" younger brother who raises small animals as friends
Celeroth Calatare: Bosmer <insert role here> - Shapeshifting Bosmer with enough sass to fill Valenwood
PC - NA - EP - CP1000+
Avid RPer. Hit me up in-game @Ras_Lei if you're interested in getting together for some arr-pee shenanigans!0 -
moo_2021✭✭✭✭✭SilverBride wrote: »Even with consoles now having access to add-ons I am not sure it's a good idea. The economies between the consoles and PC are very different. I'm not sure how well they would blend and not create conflict.
Then how would they deal with the voice chat that consoles have? I hope they never bring something like that to PC.
What's wrong with voice chat?0 -
XSTRONG✭✭✭✭✭SilverBride wrote: »Even with consoles now having access to add-ons I am not sure it's a good idea. The economies between the consoles and PC are very different. I'm not sure how well they would blend and not create conflict.
Then how would they deal with the voice chat that consoles have? I hope they never bring something like that to PC.
One way to get rid of the diffrent economies from servers are Zos making a Seasonal server with a server reset after each season.
So when a season starts everyone starts from 0, and now when addons are coming to Console it would actually be a even playing field if comparing to PC.0 -
SilverBride✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭
One way to get rid of the diffrent economies from servers are Zos making a Seasonal server with a server reset after each season.
So when a season starts everyone starts from 0, and now when addons are coming to Console it would actually be a even playing field if comparing to PC.
I'm not understanding what a reset would do. If this means to reset everyone's gold to zero then this is a big huge NO from me.PCNA6 -
MedicInTheWild✭✭✭While we don't have any news to share about cross-play or cross-save functionality at this time, we want to acknowledge that we do see this request often. We'd like to hear your thoughts on the reasons why you would like to see this functionality in ESO. What pain points are you running into that this would help solve? The feedback here is helpful for us to share with the team.
How could this not help the game?
Would make Group Finder easier to use around the clock, Not all NA player play at the same time and not all Aussie play at the same time. Could fix the times that are hard to find groups to do content.
PVP, would help grow another prime campaign and maybe even out some of the night capping. I am on the current faction that is over 10K point ahead with 5 days left. To me its embarrassing but at the same time I have played DC since I came to PC and wont change. Same when i was on Xbox and PSN I stayed on AD only when in my prime campaign.
I know merging would be difficult with some players having played all. Honestly if I had to give up all my stuff on Xbox and PSN I would, Being PSEU 1100Cp, NA 3300CP, XBOX NA 1300CP, EU 900CP I would say would be hard but in reality I would give them up to see more consistent players around the clock.Medic
All platforms and servers0 -
XSTRONG✭✭✭✭✭SilverBride wrote: »
I'm not understanding what a reset would do. If this means to reset everyone's gold to zero then this is a big huge NO from me.
On the seasonal server but eternal server will be untouched so people sitting on their Gold can still sit on it and count coins0 -
SilverBride✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭
On the seasonal server but eternal server will be untouched so people sitting on their Gold can still sit on it and count coins
I'm afraid I don't understand. What exactly is a seasonal server? Would it be a separate server from a combined crossplay server? If so then that would defeat the reason for having crossplay.PCNA1 -
tomofhyrule✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭A lot of people keep arguing that ZOS isn't doing crossplay because of the economies or the addons or whatever. It's actually a lot simpler than that:
It's physically impossible with the current server architecture
ESO, unlike other MMOs, runs on a megaserver architecture. That means that any player on a megaserver will be able to play with any other character on a megaserver, but that also means that server transfers are not possible.
I'm sure if this was easy, ZOS would have done it by now. However, we know that they can only copy data from one server to a blank server like they did when the consoles first appeared. Even the PTS every cycle will wipe the data clear and copy a server over from scratch.
If ZOS were to add something like that, they'd need to essentially make a brand new "crossplay" megaserver and then copy and merge all of the data, which would require the creation of a new tool specifically to do so. That definitely would be rife with conflicts and bugs - see what happened with the PTS debacle from last year. It's not impossible to do so, but it would take a lot of work.
One of the first things they could do to help though would be to create a "server transfer" service where only one data set is transferred from one megaserver to another. That of course would require a heavy investment and likely result in the transferred account losing some or all character names due to conflicts. But if they could get that to work smoothly, then they could possibly start to consider making a way to merge megaservers in the future.
Of course, this is implying that there would be no legalese as well. We know that PC and XBox servers would play nice since they both are under Microsoft, but I'm sure Sony's lawyers would not be happy about a way for people to stop playing on a Sony console and start playing on a competitor's system...3 -
sans-culottes✭✭✭✭✭tomofhyrule wrote: »A lot of people keep arguing that ZOS isn't doing crossplay because of the economies or the addons or whatever. It's actually a lot simpler than that:
It's physically impossible with the current server architecture
ESO, unlike other MMOs, runs on a megaserver architecture. That means that any player on a megaserver will be able to play with any other character on a megaserver, but that also means that server transfers are not possible.
I'm sure if this was easy, ZOS would have done it by now. However, we know that they can only copy data from one server to a blank server like they did when the consoles first appeared. Even the PTS every cycle will wipe the data clear and copy a server over from scratch.
If ZOS were to add something like that, they'd need to essentially make a brand new "crossplay" megaserver and then copy and merge all of the data, which would require the creation of a new tool specifically to do so. That definitely would be rife with conflicts and bugs - see what happened with the PTS debacle from last year. It's not impossible to do so, but it would take a lot of work.
One of the first things they could do to help though would be to create a "server transfer" service where only one data set is transferred from one megaserver to another. That of course would require a heavy investment and likely result in the transferred account losing some or all character names due to conflicts. But if they could get that to work smoothly, then they could possibly start to consider making a way to merge megaservers in the future.
Of course, this is implying that there would be no legalese as well. We know that PC and XBox servers would play nice since they both are under Microsoft, but I'm sure Sony's lawyers would not be happy about a way for people to stop playing on a Sony console and start playing on a competitor's system...
Lots of “ifs” there.0 -
pecheckler✭✭✭✭✭tomofhyrule wrote: »A lot of people keep arguing that ZOS isn't doing crossplay because of the economies or the addons or whatever. It's actually a lot simpler than that:
It's physically impossible with the current server architecture
ESO, unlike other MMOs, runs on a megaserver architecture. That means that any player on a megaserver will be able to play with any other character on a megaserver, but that also means that server transfers are not possible.
I'm sure if this was easy, ZOS would have done it by now. However, we know that they can only copy data from one server to a blank server like they did when the consoles first appeared. Even the PTS every cycle will wipe the data clear and copy a server over from scratch.
If ZOS were to add something like that, they'd need to essentially make a brand new "crossplay" megaserver and then copy and merge all of the data, which would require the creation of a new tool specifically to do so. That definitely would be rife with conflicts and bugs - see what happened with the PTS debacle from last year. It's not impossible to do so, but it would take a lot of work.
One of the first things they could do to help though would be to create a "server transfer" service where only one data set is transferred from one megaserver to another. That of course would require a heavy investment and likely result in the transferred account losing some or all character names due to conflicts. But if they could get that to work smoothly, then they could possibly start to consider making a way to merge megaservers in the future.
Of course, this is implying that there would be no legalese as well. We know that PC and XBox servers would play nice since they both are under Microsoft, but I'm sure Sony's lawyers would not be happy about a way for people to stop playing on a Sony console and start playing on a competitor's system...
It's software. Software can be modified and upgraded. It's purely a matter of time and money.
That statement alone nullifies your entire reasoning.
Also, lol @ "impossible" 😂End the tedious inventory management game.1 -
blktauna✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Currently ZOS is structurally unable to balance PVE separately from PVP and you imagine they can just wave a wand and change the structure they have to allow for the structural changes and DB consolidation needed for crossplay?
Not to be mean, but the ROI on that is way too small.
Then there's the whole dealing with SONY contractually and as we have no idea on the agreements already in place, that's another hurdle.
PCNA
PCEU1 -
tomofhyrule✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭pecheckler wrote: »
It's software. Software can be modified and upgraded. It's purely a matter of time and money.
That statement alone nullifies your entire reasoning.
Also, lol @ "impossible" 😂
... ah yes, I forgot the fact that software will magically do whatever it needs to without any input.
No, of course it's not impossible that things will eventually happen. But it is impossible until someone actually programs that in. Or are you implying that - without any input from me or ZOS - I can just click the "transfer character" button already.
It doesn't exist. And it won't until they put it in. And they can't until that megaserver architecture is addressed. And that takes a lot of work and time (taking time away from other things). And the latest we have from ZOS is:
https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/#en/answer/25807
Of course they can change their mind. But nobody should delude themselves into thinking that - even if they do - that that'll be a quick and bug-free thing.
My argument here is that it's a lot more complicated than someone at ZOS saying "but I don't want to push the magic 'turn crossplay on' button!" And a lot of people are of the opinion that "other games do it" means that it's just as easy to do in every game... and it's not.5 -
Kappachi✭✭✭✭While we don't have any news to share about cross-play or cross-save functionality at this time, we want to acknowledge that we do see this request often. We'd like to hear your thoughts on the reasons why you would like to see this functionality in ESO. What pain points are you running into that this would help solve? The feedback here is helpful for us to share with the team.
Any game that is massively multiplayer... becomes more massively multiplayer when you allow all players from cross console/pc/etc to play together. Final Fantasy XIV does this and the world truly feels living. A lot of times you can get into the game when an event's not running right now and there won't be anyone in certain maps... During times of less player activity cross-play helps SO much! Keeps the game feeling alive in zone chat & you'd have more people to do world bosses with/etc... It's only a win in my book. Yes the economies would merge but after players find a couple items things to sell their funds should go back to normal since economies are pretty stable.1 -
TaSheen✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Cross play between consoles - Yes, please!
Crossplay with PC - a big NOPE!
Probably the only time I've ever agreed with you....______________________________________________________
"But even in books, the heroes make mistakes, and there isn't always a happy ending." Mercedes Lackey, Into the West
PC NA, PC EU (non steam)- four accounts, many alts....0 -
Kappachi✭✭✭✭Cross play between consoles - Yes, please!
Crossplay with PC - a big NOPE!
Why? FFXIV does console+pc and it's fine. some PC players play with controller & they can make the game work with mouse+keyboard on console. There's no reason not to have this + now mods are allowed on console too.1 -
pecheckler✭✭✭✭✭
Why? FFXIV does console+pc and it's fine. some PC players play with controller & they can make the game work with mouse+keyboard on console. There's no reason not to have this + now mods are allowed on console too.
It would ruin the economy on console platforms, unfortunately. That’s the only bump in the road to full crossplay that would negatively impact players though.End the tedious inventory management game.0 -
nbksaske✭✭✭They could do what D2 has, each account name have a unique #xxxx number so cross progression isn't an issue.
I personally wouldn't want crossplay with pc, but console crossplay/cross progression would be nice, one day.
Perhaps the dungeon finder could be cross server?1
