PC Community Concerns About Cross Play

CatalinaWineMixer2 · April 27

The console platforms should be merged. Its a fair playing field and they would both benefit each other in the long run. There is more gatekeeping on PC than any consoles. By bringing PCs add ons to console this problem has been made worse. Its also extremely unfair that the test server is only on PC and that most of the console players dont have a say in what's going on as much as PC. Or up until very recently PC getting everything before console basically wrote the future before console players even knew it or had a chance of their own.
Efforts need to be made to address the entire community, not just PC. Through in game surveys and other means. The thought of consoles trying to compete with the PC economy is a problem. The thought of PC guilds refusing console players will be a problem. The people rubbing their hands together to create more tools on PC to cherry pick and gatekeep console players is a problem.
It would be better to have less people in the Realm than more tools and methods to segregate players. Or punish them because not all of them have or want a keyboard and mouse. And a lot of other things. Anyone who is on console and has never been on PC has been forced to ride PC coat tails and conform to them for too many years. It is not in any way right or just. I could go on about this a lot more and there are a lot of people who feel this way

Blood_again · April 27

Furyous wrote: »

Not all console players. Not even most. But enough to form a consistent trend.

I'm afraid you do not fully realize how it sounds.
I see it is not an AI result, and it makes things worse.
Speculations like this one you just repeated, telling us about the tendencies and differences in culture, are extremely harmful. I beg your pardon; I won't extend the further discussion here.

Lagzee · April 27

Furyous wrote: »

OsUfi wrote: »

Chat GPT would side with the PC Master Race...

That’s the kind of throwaway line people use when they disagree but don’t actually have anything to add. It’s basically the forum version of an “‑ist” name calling and acting like that somehow settles the discussion.

It’s an immature shortcut, dismissive, overly simple, and not even trying to engage with the actual points being made.

And honestly, I can just picture the smug little “mic‑drop” smile behind it, like a toddler calling someone a doody‑pants in an adult conversation because you disagree but don’t have the words to explain why.

I mean considering how outlandish your post is, i dont this that response was immature at all. Like im not sure what anyone would engage with it, except with a comment like that. And im not going to engage with it either, except to give you some advice.

The entire post was ridiculous, and you should delete it and forget it happened. Generalizations can sometimes be correct, but wild generalizations based on your own personal opinions, with nothing to back them up, should probably stay with you. This pc vs console thing is ridiculous, and pointless. Its like when any faction in pvp says some strange generalization about the players on another faction, like most of them are all the same.

You should stop worrying about strange things like this and be happy you have a game that is trying to make improvements like crossplay to increase its size and popularity. And when you deal with other players do it on an individual basis, not on where they came from. No one forces you to play with people you dont want to. GL

Rohamad_Ali · April 27

Feels like problem, reaction, solution propaganda.

Silaf · April 27

Blood_again wrote: »

Furyous wrote: »

Not all console players. Not even most. But enough to form a consistent trend.

I'm afraid you do not fully realize how it sounds.
I see it is not an AI result, and it makes things worse.
Speculations like this one you just repeated, telling us about the tendencies and differences in culture, are extremely harmful. I beg your pardon; I won't extend the further discussion here.

Well you can argue not pointing tings out can be harmful too.

Personally i never had particular problems with console players in my guild.
What worries me is the lag that may be associated with crossplay. We already have trials lagging if we stay inside for too long i wonder how additional stress will impact the server.

SwordOfSagas · April 27

DeathandDebauchery wrote: »

Personally, all I care about is them not adding area Voice to PC. Console Voice is what got me to quit console. The amount of racism/sexism/disgusting things I heard just running through Riften for 30 seconds was enough to get me to quit immediately.

In general, I experienced far more hate trying to be a LGBTQ+ friendly guild on console then I ever did on PC. Outside of that, I think most of the differences are played for dramatics.

No one uses area voice chat anymore on xbox at least, even in trials thaey start an xbox party chat instead of using in game chat. Not sure if it's broken but the last time I heard someone using it they where at vivec city crafting area snoring lol.

Orbital78 · April 27

Console players will just have to load up Discord on their phones if they want to run trials. Not too complicated, though I do wish it were easier to load invite links from chat to discord.

DragonRacer · April 27

Wow.

I'm over here concerned about my console trading guild getting obliterated by PC trading guilds after the merger due to the wild gold and economy difference between the platforms, while OP is worried that "my kind" will muck up their precious gated community vibes.

Fun times.

twisttop138 · April 27

DragonRacer wrote: »

Wow.

I'm over here concerned about my console trading guild getting obliterated by PC trading guilds after the merger due to the wild gold and economy difference between the platforms, while OP is worried that "my kind" will muck up their precious gated community vibes.

Fun times.

Unfortunately, there are those kind of folks everywhere. From your "we don't want those kind" to the "we don't take kindly" to the "not in my backyard"

All we can do is call it out when it appears. Pretty funny though to have it happen about what we play our wizards and dragons video on.

FaranBrygo · April 27

Show me on the doll where the console player's laser beams touched you...

That kind of fear is just going to eat you up...

allochthons · April 27

On playstation, I've seen some trial guilds try to keep a PSN chat for trial use. The problem is, PSN groups can only have 100 members, which in not enough in an active guild. Some guilds have managed it, but some have gone back to in-game chat.

In-game chat is also used for dungeons a lot, esp if a pug group needs to communicate, because setting up a PSN for that takes too long. And it can be complicated trying to invite people into a PSN if their privacy settings are turned on.

Discord voice chat has been mentioned a few times. I'm leary about this for two reasons:
1) Discord, as a company, is becoming extremely sketchy.
2) I'm uncomfortable with a 3rd party voice chat service becoming an integral part of gaming, not only for ESO, but in general.
2a) Plenty of people are unwilling to join discord to play the game, period.
[I realize it's pretty much a necessity (at least on PS-NA) to be in discord right now for trial rosters and such. I hope that we start moving away from discord. I am on discord, just with an account with very little real data/PII attached to it.]
2b) Do I technically have to have a b) if I have an a)?

None of this is for or against cross-platform. And I don't know what a viable cross-platform chat option would be.
Just food for thought.

(ETA to change "discord chat" to "discord voice chat," and to add that I am on discord.)

KalevaLaine · April 27

Orbital78 wrote: »

Console players will just have to load up Discord on their phones if they want to run trials. Not too complicated, though I do wish it were easier to load invite links from chat to discord.

Please no. A friend of mine on PC (dunny why the h*ll) use his mobile, its horrible. On PS5 you can use discord.

licenturion · April 27

I play competitive games on both platforms. Never noticed any difference between player pools.

The only difference you notice in gaming is between regions. EU is always way more quiet because of different languages and also because EU people are usually more closed compared to playing in US regions. But that's about it.

Tandor · April 27

Some are talking about servers being merged. Some are talking about console players having to start over on PC.

Does anyone actually have the first idea what ZOS mean by "crossplay" and how they intend to implement it? Have ZOS ever explained it? I'm not aware that they have, certainly not in any detail.

Mik195 · April 27

PC does have the advantages from a decade of add ons. ZOS should look at the median gold amount among active players with a decent tenure on PC vs. the consoles. If PC does have an advantage in gold (and they may not; I don't have the data), the console accounts should be grossed up by the differential or cross play will truly make console peasants

Treeshka · April 27

Tandor wrote: »

Some are talking about servers being merged. Some are talking about console players having to start over on PC.

Does anyone actually have the first idea what ZOS mean by "crossplay" and how they intend to implement it? Have ZOS ever explained it? I'm not aware that they have, certainly not in any detail.

Maybe i am dreaming but they have said. Nobody will lose progress. We will also be able to play with our own accounts cross platform. So if i ever get a Console, i can play with my PC account there. If a Console player gets a PC, they can also play with their account there.

Silaf · April 27

Mik195 wrote: »

PC does have the advantages from a decade of add ons. ZOS should look at the median gold amount among active players with a decent tenure on PC vs. the consoles. If PC does have an advantage in gold (and they may not; I don't have the data), the console accounts should be grossed up by the differential or cross play will truly make console peasants

And if it turns out Mik has more gold than me we all want a rebalance and a share of it!

Tandor · April 27

Treeshka wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Some are talking about servers being merged. Some are talking about console players having to start over on PC.

Does anyone actually have the first idea what ZOS mean by "crossplay" and how they intend to implement it? Have ZOS ever explained it? I'm not aware that they have, certainly not in any detail.

Maybe i am dreaming but they have said. Nobody will lose progress. We will also be able to play with our own accounts cross platform. So if i ever get a Console, i can play with my PC account there. If a Console player gets a PC, they can also play with their account there.

Thanks, but have they said whether that means retaining the existing servers but with increased populations? If there are new servers how will that work? What happens to guilds, do you retain your PC guilds including your online presence when you play on console, and if so how do the officers handle activities and members' behavioural issues on console if they're not on console themselves? If not, then presumably either you can join console guilds when on console and PC guilds when on PC or else you won't show up as ingame in your PC guilds when you're logged into console, which may, for example, result in guilds kicking you when you're spending too much time away from that platform's guilds. This has implications far beyond guild traders and the economy.

What about names, are we all going to be stuck with a platform suffix even if we aren't switching platforms or will some of us have our names changed even if we aren't switching platforms because someone has arrived on our platform with a name that was created before ours was?

This all sounds to me very reminiscent of the discussions about the originally intended PVP element of the Justice System. ZOS announced it and put a lot of effort into trying to implement it before deciding that there was no realistic means of making it work, so it was dropped. I think this will be even more difficult to add to an existing game that wasn't designed around it, and I just hope they don't get pushed into launching it when it's only half-baked and not fully thought through. The sooner they start discussing their ideas with the community in a lot of detail the better the chance of them getting it right. A one hour broadcast and 4 weeks on PTS isn't going to cut it!

Ulvich · April 27

I am curious as to how ZOS plans to fix the issue with toons and guilds with the same name. Some of my toons have had the same name since the very day of launch.

allochthons · April 27

Treeshka wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Some are talking about servers being merged. Some are talking about console players having to start over on PC.

Does anyone actually have the first idea what ZOS mean by "crossplay" and how they intend to implement it? Have ZOS ever explained it? I'm not aware that they have, certainly not in any detail.

Maybe i am dreaming but they have said. Nobody will lose progress. We will also be able to play with our own accounts cross platform. So if i ever get a Console, i can play with my PC account there. If a Console player gets a PC, they can also play with their account there.

And the geographical server populations will be merged. A playstation, and XBox, a Steam, and a traditional PC player can run a dungeon together.

The Realms will remain separate - EU and NA will not merge.

As I understand it.

The rest of your questions, @Tandor, we don't have information on; Guilds, names, account merging, etc have not been answered, nor have we really been given any hints at all.

Blood_again · April 27

Silaf wrote: »

[
Well you can argue not pointing tings out can be harmful too.

Personally i never had particular problems with console players in my guild.
What worries me is the lag that may be associated with crossplay. We already have trials lagging if we stay inside for too long i wonder how additional stress will impact the server.

Then I invite you to continue in this topic.

FlameDark · April 28

Tandor wrote: »

Some are talking about servers being merged. Some are talking about console players having to start over on PC.

Does anyone actually have the first idea what ZOS mean by "crossplay" and how they intend to implement it? Have ZOS ever explained it? I'm not aware that they have, certainly not in any detail.

No one should have to worry about starting over on PC. They're working on cross progression at the same time as cross play. So when it starts up I would imagine you could just launch your eso on any platform and be right where when you left it beforehand.

JemadarofCaerSalis · April 28

SerafinaWaterstar wrote: »

Your post shows you know nothing about the community on consoles.

Yeah, while it might be absolutely different in ESO, I play another game, a free one, that has crossplay, as in all platforms it is on use the same servers.

The most I have seen people complain about is how consoles often can't type in chat easily, so they often can do the friendly things people expect (such as call out resources, or say thank you) and it is generally just a 'why do they not say thank you or call out?' and when explained go 'oh!'

spartaxoxo · April 28

If anything it is PC players that are more likely to type something that causes drama. Not because the environment shapes negative behaviors or whatever other xenophobic psychobabble is written by AI but because it's just easier to type with a keyboard.

As for stealing and the like. Obviously, you'd run into more negative types switching platforms when switching platform is such a Herculean effort. These people abandoned their old accounts for a reason and so there would be a higher percentage of people of that abandoned it for no good reason at all.

Which has zip to do with the general play culture of console.

spartaxoxo · April 28

JemadarofCaerSalis wrote: »

SerafinaWaterstar wrote: »

Your post shows you know nothing about the community on consoles.

Yeah, while it might be absolutely different in ESO, I play another game, a free one, that has crossplay, as in all platforms it is on use the same servers.

The most I have seen people complain about is how consoles often can't type in chat easily, so they often can do the friendly things people expect (such as call out resources, or say thank you) and it is generally just a 'why do they not say thank you or call out?' and when explained go 'oh!'

Yup console players are less likely to say anything positive or negative just because using a controller to type is annoying. Most you'll usually get is a gg at the end of a dungeon and often not even that. This means less toxic chats and also less polite ones.

That's about the only real difference in the way the platforms shape communication.

DietDrKelp2 · April 28

spartaxoxo wrote: »

JemadarofCaerSalis wrote: »

SerafinaWaterstar wrote: »

Your post shows you know nothing about the community on consoles.

Yeah, while it might be absolutely different in ESO, I play another game, a free one, that has crossplay, as in all platforms it is on use the same servers.

The most I have seen people complain about is how consoles often can't type in chat easily, so they often can do the friendly things people expect (such as call out resources, or say thank you) and it is generally just a 'why do they not say thank you or call out?' and when explained go 'oh!'

Yup console players are less likely to say anything positive or negative just because using a controller to type is annoying. Most you'll usually get is a gg at the end of a dungeon and often not even that. This means less toxic chats and also less polite ones.

That's about the only real difference in the way the platforms shape communication.

A lot of us use a keyboard on console. You just plug it in, can type in chat and use all shortcuts too. You cant do much else but the typing.

Hapexamendios · April 28

I just imagine this topic being read by the adults in the Charlie Brown cartoons.

Stamicka · April 28

I’ve played on both Xbox NA and PC NA. I definitely think there was a cultural difference between the two. However, so many people from Xbox NA already switched to PC so it hardly makes a difference now. They’ll blend just fine.

The Xbox crowd tended to skew younger while the PC crowd seemed to skew a bit older in my experience.

In PvE there was a way different raiding culture on Xbox vs PC mostly due to Xbox not having logs and add ons back when I played. Basically on Xbox, it was harder to tell who was actually a good DPS and who wasn’t. Dummy parses weren’t a good gauge.

Eventually the sweatier teams required everyone to stream the run, but before that it was all kind of vibes based. Sometimes if a team didn’t like someone, they’d assume that they were a bad DPS. On the flip side sometimes the loud and cocky types were assumed to be good DPS even if they weren’t. Getting on teams was much more about who you knew.

I remember how fast some of the Xbox players I switched with fled from PC as soon as their damage started showing up in logs and add ons. The PC raiding community was much more numbers and log focused. It was also more mature and more chill imo.

Anyway, TLDR, I think the main difference between the two came from the age skew and the lack of add ons that Xbox used to have. Now that it has add ons, I would imagine that the raiding community became more like the PC raiding community, but I don’t know for sure.

Crossplay will be good for the game overall. I don’t think there’s a reason to worry and the community will adjust just fine. Now that all platforms have add ons there should be less of a gap anyway.

Nemesis7884 · April 28

SerafinaWaterstar wrote: »

Your post shows you know nothing about the community on consoles.

yeah seem pretty random complaints as if you can categorize players this way... I am super happy about crossplay - the more people you have to play with the higher the likelihood the game will attract new players and do well.

Silaf · April 28

Nemesis7884 wrote: »

SerafinaWaterstar wrote: »

Your post shows you know nothing about the community on consoles.

yeah seem pretty random complaints as if you can categorize players this way... I am super happy about crossplay - the more people you have to play with the higher the likelihood the game will attract new players and do well.

We will discover the truth soon enough.
Crossplay has been announced and ZOS will not change direction at this point.