DenverRalphy wrote: »

Ph1p wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

Ph1p wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

Danikat wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

Another reason cross play isn't going to arrive any time soon. Staggered releases wouldn't work with it.

They'd just hold back the PC release until it was approved for consoles as well, like other companies do. Like how they stopped doing additional bug fix updates on PC when Stadia was around, because they used the PC servers and updates to Stadia had to go through a similar approval process.

I seriously doubt it's a "waiting on approval" issue causing the staggered releases. The release dates are scheduled several months in advance. They're announced during the live streams long beforehand. They're not going to announce a release date without any assurances.

Otherwise they'd already be timing the releases to be concurrent.

Consoles require a certification process for major updates, which typically takes 1-2 weeks to complete. It's not difficult for ZOS to include that in their roadmap and planning, especially after a decade of dealing with it, but beyond that there are no assurances to be had. Any game that announces concurrent release dates (e.g., because of crossplay) has accounted for this certification process as well. It is a well-known and well-documented burden for game developers and a source of uncertainty that they have to live with.

Danikat wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

Danikat wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

Another reason cross play isn't going to arrive any time soon. Staggered releases wouldn't work with it.

They'd just hold back the PC release until it was approved for consoles as well, like other companies do. Like how they stopped doing additional bug fix updates on PC when Stadia was around, because they used the PC servers and updates to Stadia had to go through a similar approval process.

I seriously doubt it's a "waiting on approval" issue causing the staggered releases. The release dates are scheduled several months in advance. They're announced during the live streams long beforehand. They're not going to announce a release date without any assurances.

Otherwise they'd already be timing the releases to be concurrent.

Console certification is a widely known process that's been a requirement for (almost) all consoles since the 80's. All console games and major updates have to go through it.

But that means any game developer who isn't a complete amatuer knows about it, and what the requirements will be before they start so they can be reasonably sure their game will pass certification, and big developers like ZOS can work directly with Microsoft and Sony if they have questions or expect any problems, even before sending the update off for certification. That means they can plan release dates factoring in the standard certification time (which is 2 weeks) and be sure their game will be approved by then.

But they still have to get certification, and that means they need to plan that 2 week process into their release schedule. The update has to be finished before it can be certified and since that process isn't required for PC games their choices are hold back a completed update for 2 weeks so everyone gets it together, or release it to each platform as soon as they can.

You missed the point entirely. The point is simply this... The approval process isn't the reason for staggered releases. It is not what is preventing them from scheduling the PC release to be concurrent with the console releases.

They could simply schedule the PC release to coincide with consoles. But they don't. So the reason is either they just don't care that console players get the second hand treatment (which I doubt), or there is another limiting factor preventing them from doing so.

After all. If it was just a matter of them changing their release schedule protocol to support cross play ability, then they've just been sticking it to consoles for over a decade now.

<snipped for brevity>
Of course, console players are inconvenienced by having to wait longer and potentially encountering spoilers. But let's stop pretending ZOS is somehow "sticking it to consoles" on purpose.

If over the last decade they could have released concurrently but willingly chose not to, then yes, that would be akin to "sticking it to consoles".

But I did not accuse them of that now did I? I very specifically stated that there has to be another reason they stagger the releases, because I don't believe they would willingly choose to do so.

XSTRONG wrote: »

I saw Eso posting on their Facebook page asking "what was great with update 46"

Them asking that and there is still 2-3 days left for Console players to be able to play it seems like a "we dont even acknowledged that console players exsist"