Yep, like many have been saying to the ones freaking out, each version will be designed and balanced for its platform. There won't be just simply porting between platforms causing issues and "dumbing down". Each platform has its own version.

Awesome news, thanks for the quote and link friend.

(I'll be posting this to the naysayers on the FB page).

Personally im not as freaked out about it as some are. But I do know they must have had some idea they were going to release this for the new generation console. Though I don't believe its entirely their fault they cant rightly tell us 18 months ago they were going to release on a platform the Manufacturer hadn't announced. But if you look at The difference between Morrowind which was a PC only game and Oblivion then the direction of skyrim. you can see a severe dumbing down of the class system and skill advancement. Not that I don't love skyrim on the PC its one of my all time favorite PC RPG's. oblivion I did not enjoy at all for some reason. But there has been a loss of Chr advancement features , Classes , and combat mechanics in MMO's for the last 8 years. I am hoping they don't strip it further. the trinity system gets far too much grief , It didn't used to be Tank heal and DPS. There were roles removed from the combat mechanics MMO's used that gave the system much richer and strategic play. But it was also harder to itemize and balance for Development teams . Im hoping not too much was stripped from the core game mechanics in concept before development even started.

Not to take a side here, but you make it look as if all console players were complete morons, who are unable to inform themselves prior to a game's purchase. I'm pretty sure most of them will do the same internet or magazine research on what new games they could buy as your average PC gamer; therefore, I don't think too many will be disappointed by the game being a MMO after they bought it. Some might not buy it because of that, but I really don't think many will be stupid enough to buy the game expecting something completely different. But maybe I'm wrong.

edit: also the same argument could be made for the PC version. If there are console players who are caught unaware by TESO being a MMO, then there'll be likely also PC players who just thought it would be the next TES game and missed the whole online part of it. I don't think PC gamers are somehow more intelligent or informed on average, despite being one myself.

Even if they stick to that, what about subscriptions, updates and future planning?

What will happen in 3-5 years time when consoles will be significantly outdated?

Of course they will tell you that this decission (going to consoles) will not affect ESO in general, but thats not entirelly true. I bet that the game will be released as B2P with a cash shop...

And as I said, the fail will probably be as big as the TORtanic...

will this PC play the newest games on the market for the next 7 years? lol

So people worrying about the PC version being "dumbed down" for the consoles really had nothing to worry about in the first place? Amazing.

I liked this quote too.

"I've been in the industry for a long time and I've been hearing PC is dying for years, and then consoles are dying, and then PC is dying again. It's not."

See fellow PC gamers and other PC purists? Your version won't be affected by the recent decision to port the game to console. Fear not, you're safe from almost every aspect that you guys have been worrying about.


You're not.

i really hope i can solo pretty much the entire game now so i can just buy it for the ps4

Umm ya it probably would . and you definitely would be able to easily upgrade the GPU staying a second tier from top of the line for extremely cheap every couple of years. consoles are not upgradable at all. can I ask you a serious question though. If you had the option to up grade your Console every 2 years for about 100 to 150 $ would you? to get better graphics for the new games coming out that could take advantage technology advancement?Right now any high end Gaming PC though more expensive is better then a PS4 or xbox 1. Its better now and if I did no upgrades would be better in 7 years still. ill likely not need to touch my current build for at least 3 years unless I just want to exercise my Tech obsession.

LOL/10 chrs you win sir

Because the console is a static platform? Yes. And the money saved by PC games being (usually) $10 cheaper than console games, Steam sales, and so on, the PC player has actually -saved- money, and can use such savings to periodically upgrade it to the point where it makes the console look like an over-priced paperweight.

If you build it with the GTX 770 - I'm sure. But games will look as crappy as on PS4 then. Just lower the Settings - a thing that is not neccessary on consoles - their level is predefined.

Personally im not as freaked out about it as some are. But I do know they must have had some idea they were going to release this for the new generation console. Though I don't believe its entirely their fault they cant rightly tell us 18 months ago they were going to release on a platform the Manufacturer hadn't announced. But if you look at The difference between Morrowind which was a PC only game and Oblivion then the direction of skyrim. you can see a severe dumbing down of the class system and skill advancement. Not that I don't love skyrim on the PC its one of my all time favorite PC RPG's. oblivion I did not enjoy at all for some reason. But there has been a loss of Chr advancement features , Classes , and combat mechanics in MMO's for the last 8 years. I am hoping they don't strip it further. the trinity system gets far too much grief , It didn't used to be Tank heal and DPS. There were roles removed from the combat mechanics MMO's used that gave the system much richer and strategic play. But it was also harder to itemize and balance for Development teams . Im hoping not too much was stripped from the core game mechanics in concept before development even started.

They might have had some idea that it would come out to next gen consoles when the game was announced, but without dev kits you can't really make that decision. So it's not even about the next-gen consoles being announced yet, it's the mere fact that they had little time to even work with the dev kits and know the console specs, or that they didn't even have them yet. Remember, there wasn't a single inkling of knowledge about dev kits from Sony being released until 6 months after ESO was announced. Looking at the time frame for of the console announcements, it's a safe bet these devs didn't have the kits for the actual gaming platform until summer of 2012...after the announcement for ESO. The decision probably came after they had worked with the dev kits for a while to see how it worked, plus negotiations with Microsoft and Sony how to handle the online play and management of the game on their consoles.

Morrowind was a console game too.

What extra roles are there and what has been stripped away? The trinity system is still there in newer MMOs. Strategy is still prevalent. Going to a live action combat system doesn't have to change that.

i really hope i can solo pretty much the entire game now so i can just buy it for the ps4

Well I would assume so if they go the traditional MMO route. Don't see why you would need the PS4 to do that.

Yes, they will, and that is part of the problem. Each of those versions takes more resources (time, money and work) that could have gone directly into game development. Even if there is no 'dumbing down,' the game is still lessened by the opportunity cost of having to put money into separate versions rather than into the actual game.

While of course there are people freaking out, there is a rational stance to take on why this decision isn't going to yield the best results. For the next 'Ask us anything' here is my question: is the decision to have console versions the reason why there wasn't time to have the dark brotherhood, thieves guild or player housing in the game at launch?

The official answer will probably be no, but I'd like to see their eyes while they answer the question.

I agree. I'm pretty sure that they won't hire tons of developers just because they decided to port the game to consoles. I think they just split up their team and all takes longer. But therefore profit may go up...

I Your correct I did not realize it was released for Xbox it was released after PC version. As to what roles were removed . well for starters true Crowd control it was an actual role with specific abilities that supported and enhanced that role . like charming debuffing and hasting allies which was enchanter type roles. Secondly a true utility like Bard that enhanced others abilities with songs while restricting what abilities mobs can use. sure these abilities have been watered down and give to DPS or healing roles . it is a dumbing down of the system if you compare group mechanics to early EQ 2. to what exists in modern MMO's its what game companies call stream lining and the Purists call dumbing down. as you can see group sizes have now gotten smaller in modern MMO's to acomdate the streamlining . from 6 people to 4 in the trinity based game play. because the roles of crowd control and actuall Buffing and debuffing have been removed and spread about DPS tank and Healing.My point was the actuall trinity system was not really a trinity system . there were 6 roles CC , buffing and debuffing, and usally a of healing utility role for rounding out.

I hear what you're saying, but it's not like each version would be made from the ground up. They're going to port the PC version to the consoles and honestly, I know exactly how you feel because I dealt with it for Skyrim on the PS3.

That said, doing the port job could be done by additional staff that was hired just for that. Where do they the money for this staff? Not from something they would have initially invested into the PC development. Why? Because that money is being used on the assumption of future profits. By expanding their target audience, they have increased those expected returns and therefore expand the staff. Without that, there would be no expansion of staff. So what are you really losing? Nothing really because it wouldn't be there in the first place if the decision wasn't made to port to console.

To answer the highlighted section: You can't honestly answer that with certainty, but imo the likely reason is because they're developing other stuff. If you take what I said above, you could see it's not a reallocation of resources, but acquiring more because of new higher expectations. That whole leaving stuff out at launch? That happens in every MMO, so you're not dealing with anything new here. You don't even know what will be there at launch yet. I've been through this at least a dozen times in the past with other MMOs and it's always the same and this course is no different except that the target audience is bigger because of the console decision.

Although I am considering a PS4 I think it highly unlikely I would comsider a MMO on anything other than a PC due to the mouse advatage and control configuration mentioned several times above. I am also wondering on the issues that will plague a server that contains PC & Console players together.

I really dont think this can be done now or in the near future with any great level of reliability.

I see what you're saying now. While I won't disagree with you that those roles have been placed inside the trinity, I've seen more and more specialization in trinity where you're never a pure this or that. Want to do buffing as a healer? Ok you can do that and they will be awesome buffs, but your heals are going to svck.

I've mostly dealt with the trinity system though ever since I started playing MMOs almost 20 years ago, so maybe that's where you and I differ because I haven't played those games games that use more than a trinity system. Though just because it's a trinity doesn't mean it's not complex.

Edited: Nvm. I misread you. So please ignore that post ^^

But what to do after the job is done? Where do they get work from? They can't hire 50% more developers and fire them after one year. The would have to ensure that they are employed much longer.

The best thing would be to collect fees so that they can work on extra contents etc. Of course they will hire some. But I'm sure that they're far from enough not to delay the release and so on.

please show me a 7 year old computer that cost 400 dollars in 2006 that can play skyrim or battlefield 3. settings is one thing, but developers don't develop games to play on 7 year old pcs.

I never showed any pc that costs 400$. If one is 12 years old, and saved $380 and can't wait for anything, then he should buy the console. I am talking about people who have the opportunity spending little more and saving it somewhere else. And also having the possibility to upgrade the machine which is a serious value against the higher price. Because you can make your games look high end a couple of years if you wanted to and having enough money.

Sure they can. The teams for mmos almost always have a huge staff reduction several months after launch because a maintenance staff doesn't need to be that big and addon content (mostly end-game) doesn't need a huge staff either. Once the vanilla game is launched, the need for a large dev staff, regardless its multiplatform or pc-only or sony-only or etc etc is not there. The beef of game development is done pre launch....new areas, new skills, system tweaks, and all of that can be done with a staff that is a 1/5 that size and that is being generous.

These extra employees that are brought in, possibly with a contract, know full well once that game is launched, the need for most of them is not there. If there is a contract, there is typically a clause that the termination date of a contract would occur no earlier than x amount of days after launch. But yes, they will go through major staff reductions within the first year and most of them will apply to be part of the next game development that will take a few years at least or hookup with another company.

How about a new gaming PC at the same price? http://3xs.scan.co.uk/ShowSystem.asp?SystemID=1383

It may not play it at full settings but it can play the games.