Can Console accounts have Access on PC PTS ?

RouDeR · August 2016

@ZOS_DaryaK @ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_AlanG
As a part of the ESO community we - the console players want to participate in the PTS ,
Can you guys tell us : is it gonna be possible in the near future for us to participate via PC on PTS using our console(PSN)/(XBOX1) accounts ?

It makes me a bit angry that i cant join and taste the future content and help improve the upcoming patches becouse i play on console and not pc. . .

So please make our accounts valiable for PTS participate .

In terms of profit you can make PTS accessible for EsoPLUS (console requirement only)active members only ,so it will be win win for both sides and one more good reason for pple ro subscribe

thewolphub17_ESO · August 2016

I get what you're saying, but essentially, you're asking for a free copy of the game for PC, so I doubt it will ever happen.

Pandorii · August 2016

I was thinking something similar today. In order to use the PTS, you need to own the PC version of the game.

I'd like to run the PTS on my PC, but I only have the console version of the game. It would be nice if we could be eligible.

RouDeR · August 2016

thewolphub17_ESO wrote: »

I get what you're saying, but essentially, you're asking for a free copy of the game for PC, so I doubt it will ever happen.

No man , they can easily create algorithm that can give us access to the PTS only and not to the main game itself ...

acw37162 · August 2016

Yes, when you buy the game twice.

Why, because even though it is cost/time prohibitive to build test servers for consoles tanks in part to Microsoft and Sony with a little bit of blame left over for ZOS.

Because misted testers actively trying to break the game in test is better then less.

Because there is not enough forethought that can create a test server system that realizes if you have a forum account which you had to buy the game at point to access and Jett gay person into.

No, no our system only recognizes PC accounts buy the PC version and you can play test. Thank You and your welcome.

IwakuraLain42 · August 2016

Providing access to the PTS for console user shouldn't be a big problem, as the PTS is a separate download with it's own metaserver as well. Coding an additional check to the console megaserver for access check should be easy.

But it's not so easy, because during test phases there are occasionally character copies from the live servers to the PTS (if I understand that correctly). I don't think that this is currently possible (and it would require shutdown for the console servers on PTS Mondays as well).

So I don't think this is possible. This is bad news, because we really need more testing for the Console versions, or ZOS needs to put more time into testing/developing the new features with Consoles in mind. Currently the Console ports still feel like an afterthought and you can tell that quite a few of the new features were designed from PC developers who don't unterstand the restrictions a Console has (like using the Controller GUI, or designing GUI elements & game features that are meant for users sitting a few centimeters from their screen).

QUEZ420 · August 2016

U can get the game for pc nowadays for usually less then $20 bucks, money well spent.

RouDeR · August 2016

QUEZ420 wrote: »

U can get the game for pc nowadays for usually less then $20 bucks, money well spent.

My friend , in my poor country i work 9 hours for that 20 bucks , if you work 9 hours shifts for 20 bucks u also would not buy the game twice ...

As for the PTS character copy , this is not must have. The game cud automaticaly create 4 different character classes with the best races for them CP maxed for the purpos of testing , so the char transfer can be avoided

ADarklore · August 2016

IwakuraLain42 wrote: »

Providing access to the PTS for console user shouldn't be a big problem, as the PTS is a separate download with it's own metaserver as well. Coding an additional check to the console megaserver for access check should be easy.

But it's not so easy, because during test phases there are occasionally character copies from the live servers to the PTS (if I understand that correctly). I don't think that this is currently possible (and it would require shutdown for the console servers on PTS Mondays as well).

So I don't think this is possible. This is bad news, because we really need more testing for the Console versions, or ZOS needs to put more time into testing/developing the new features with Consoles in mind. Currently the Console ports still feel like an afterthought and you can tell that quite a few of the new features were designed from PC developers who don't unterstand the restrictions a Console has (like using the Controller GUI, or designing GUI elements & game features that are meant for users sitting a few centimeters from their screen).

You also have to keep in mind it took ZOS an extra YEAR to even get the console version to work, so I wouldn't say they're exactly the best group to have high expectations for.

k9mouse · August 2016

I think Microsoft and Sony is the right problem. EVERYTHING on the console must have OK from Microsoft and Sony. If ZOS gives access to the PC PTS, they must have Microsoft and Sony OK to do so. Also, we the players do not know if ZOS's ESO infrastructure can handle cross platform like that or not.

UrQuan · August 2016

RouDeR wrote: »

As for the PTS character copy , this is not must have. The game cud automaticaly create 4 different character classes with the best races for them CP maxed for the purpos of testing , so the char transfer can be avoided

Or they can just use the system they have now due to having 2 different PC servers to do character copies from. If the character copies are coming from a server where you don't have any characters (like if you're on PC NA and it's the PC EU character copy) then you have all of your character slots empty, and you have the option of creating new characters like normal, or of creating a max-level template character of the race & class of your choice with all skills maxed so you can spend your skill points wherever you want and try out whatever morphs you want.

In order to make this work, though, they'd have to change the launcher. Maybe create a special PTS-only launcher that can be downloaded separately from the current download, and by anyone whether they have an account or not.

idk · August 2016

Proper testing on the PTS requires character copy. The template for creating a new character do not provide a proper character to test anything correctly, other than testing writs or crown store items appearance.

NewBlacksmurf · August 2016

No, it was made very clear since day one that console would not have its own PTS and that consoles would not have access to PTS without buying a PC version of the game.

UrQuan · August 2016

Giles.floydub17_ESO wrote: »

Proper testing on the PTS requires character copy. The template for creating a new character do not provide a proper character to test anything correctly, other than testing writs or crown store items appearance.

What? Having a max-level character with all skill lines maxed-out, all attribute points, tons of skill points, crates full of virtually all available max-level gear, and crates full of crafting mats doesn't provide you with a proper character to test anything correctly other than writs or crown store items appearance? WTF?

Takes-No-Prisoner · August 2016

OP since you have forum access you should lurk in the PTS section of the forums and read responses there.

Taleof2Cities · August 2016

UrQuan wrote: »

Giles.floydub17_ESO wrote: »

Proper testing on the PTS requires character copy. The template for creating a new character do not provide a proper character to test anything correctly, other than testing writs or crown store items appearance.

What? Having a max-level character with all skill lines maxed-out, all attribute points, tons of skill points, crates full of virtually all available max-level gear, and crates full of crafting mats doesn't provide you with a proper character to test anything correctly other than writs or crown store items appearance? WTF?

100% agree with you @UrQuan.

I think that post was a thinly disguised complaint about the two week rotation between character copy and template on PTS.

I'm with the OP by the way. If ZOS wants to thoroughly test new content, they should be inclusive of console players by giving them a PTS portal of some kind.

UrQuan · August 2016

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

UrQuan wrote: »

Giles.floydub17_ESO wrote: »

Proper testing on the PTS requires character copy. The template for creating a new character do not provide a proper character to test anything correctly, other than testing writs or crown store items appearance.

What? Having a max-level character with all skill lines maxed-out, all attribute points, tons of skill points, crates full of virtually all available max-level gear, and crates full of crafting mats doesn't provide you with a proper character to test anything correctly other than writs or crown store items appearance? WTF?

100% agree with you @UrQuan.

I think that post was a thinly disguised complaint about the two week rotation between character copy and template on PTS.

Actually, on reflection I think maybe he genuinely didn't realize that the template characters are maxed-out, and thought that they were just brand new characters like you get on the live server when you skip the tutorial.

Daveheart · August 2016

UrQuan wrote: »

Giles.floydub17_ESO wrote: »

Proper testing on the PTS requires character copy. The template for creating a new character do not provide a proper character to test anything correctly, other than testing writs or crown store items appearance.

What? Having a max-level character with all skill lines maxed-out, all attribute points, tons of skill points, crates full of virtually all available max-level gear, and crates full of crafting mats doesn't provide you with a proper character to test anything correctly other than writs or crown store items appearance? WTF?

Unfortunately they've yet to create a way to quickly access all the gear sets in the game within the PTS. A vendor that sells literally everything that can be earned in game would solve that problem, but I'm not holding my breath. Retesting old sets is necessary due to bugs and unforeseen interactions with new sets. The other reason the character copy is needed is that we've seen a few bugs that only occurred on characters with specific achievements completed.

Taleof2Cities · August 2016

UrQuan wrote: »

Actually, on reflection I think maybe he genuinely didn't realize that the template characters are maxed-out, and thought that they were just brand new characters like you get on the live server when you skip the tutorial.

Well, you may be right ... admirable for giving the benefit of the doubt.

On the other hand, template characters are the only available choice on PTS when character copy isn't up. Players might be averse to the amount of time it takes to set up a CP300 character. For me, admittedly, it takes about an hour and a half just to set up skills, champ points, riding lessons, motifs, recipes, and everything else.

UrQuan · August 2016

Daveheart wrote: »

UrQuan wrote: »

Giles.floydub17_ESO wrote: »

Proper testing on the PTS requires character copy. The template for creating a new character do not provide a proper character to test anything correctly, other than testing writs or crown store items appearance.

What? Having a max-level character with all skill lines maxed-out, all attribute points, tons of skill points, crates full of virtually all available max-level gear, and crates full of crafting mats doesn't provide you with a proper character to test anything correctly other than writs or crown store items appearance? WTF?

Unfortunately they've yet to create a way to quickly access all the gear sets in the game within the PTS. A vendor that sells literally everything that can be earned in game would solve that problem, but I'm not holding my breath. Retesting old sets is necessary due to bugs and unforeseen interactions with new sets. The other reason the character copy is needed is that we've seen a few bugs that only occurred on characters with specific achievements completed.

Oh I agree that a character copy is needed - any proper testing regime for a release needs to include pre-release data as well as new data. I actually have a cautionary tale about that from a project I was on a couple of years ago... Except I can't tell it because it would reveal too much about inner workings of some banking-related software. All I can really say is that the vendor used an inner join when they should have used a left join, it wasn't discovered because it worked fine when you were only entering new data, and the results were disastrous for the existing records in the system.

But the template characters are still very useful for testing the vast majority of things.

Taleof2Cities · August 2016

Well, you do get a character copy for two weeks ... which should be a long enough to test old/new set interactions with existing old sets retained by the character.

I suppose an option in PTS that gives choices for both template and character copy 100% of the time would be optimal ...

RouDeR · August 2016

If the account information transfer will be problamatic cuz of the Microsoft and PSN , than the pts cud use the Forum accounts , Each Forum account can be linked to one or multiple PSN/Microsoft accounts via a simple email verification !
For example i want to link my Forum account to my PSN account so the system sends me confirmation email to the email that i used to make my PSN account.

frownsyndromes · August 2016

posted in wrong forum my bad

Altaire · August 2016

Let the consoles have there own test server, or can ZoS bundle them on same server but instances for each platform?
Testing server is so under used on PC, let the console ppl find some bugs too.

UrQuan · August 2016

frownsyndromes wrote: »

looooool dude go watch a video on how to rotate your abilitys there are some good videos on youtube to teach you how to play the game. i dont understand how you can max a character and still have no idea what your doing..... sorry man but the reason the whole dungeon failed as because you do barely anything at all hahah my healers put out 5x more damage than you do

Hey @frownsyndromes I think you accidentally put this reply in the wrong thread.

rbedsole · August 2016

I'm clueless on the inner workings of servers and how this or that works but shouldn't it be possible to put up a pts equivalent download on consoles

IwakuraLain42 · August 2016

rbedsole wrote: »

I'm clueless on the inner workings of servers and how this or that works but shouldn't it be possible to put up a pts equivalent download on consoles

Possible yes, but highly difficult. The PTS is basically (as I understand it) a separate game client (the beta software) running against a specific mega server. To provide this to console users ZOS would have to get Sony/MS to certify every release (and PTS releases are weekly), so this very unlikely until Sony/MS provide a beta channel.

Skcarkden · August 2016

thewolphub17_ESO wrote: »

I get what you're saying, but essentially, you're asking for a free copy of the game for PC, so I doubt it will ever happen.

Going by that logic, all the PC players who use PTS are thieves for having two copies but only paied for one.

Ggrab · August 2016

I think they should run a volunteer Program for console players that really want to beta and test the patch note , not just checkout the future lol.

xxxx number of ppl get there character copy over to pst so they can test it

Ggrab · August 2016

Main reason why console don't have there own test servers is because of the cost of money behide it. Sony and Microsoft have heavy cost for uploading patches/content

By having PTS straight from console , they will have to pay the fee , on PC there no fees

alexkdd99 · August 2016

I think people are not understanding what op is saying.

He wants to be able to play on pts on a computer. He normally plays on xbox and just wants to be able to log onto pts on pc without having to buy the pc version of the game since he already owns the xbox version

He does not want to play on pts on xbox. Just wants ability to create a pts account without having to purchase the game 2 times