I will be buying a PS4 so I am tempted to buy ESO on console rather than PC because my PC is about 4 years old and I can guarantee that I will need to spend a lot of money upgrading it to be able to handle this game.

My major concern is that I'm afraid the PS4 player base for this game will be a small fraction of what the PC will have, and thus the PS4 version might suffer from low population problems long before the PC version has any worries.

Is this enough of a risk to warrent spending $600+ on my PC?

I'm getting it for PS4. A lot of people I talk to are getting it for PS4 as well. Honestly, I think there will be plenty of PS4 players. Not as much as PC of course, but plenty.

You check the megaserver concept and your worries regarding low population should be sorted

It's your money. We can't tell you what to do with it.

TES is so popular that all platforms will have a reasonable playerbase, but more people will play ESO on PC than on each console, that's for sure. I don't think anyone can accurately predict the PS4 situation at this point. In case of Skyrim, PS3 was the least popular platform and was plagued by technical problems to boot; it won't encourage potential customers. But that was last gen, things are going to change a bit now.

I thought he was worried about the game dying completely. Admittedly, it's not going to happen soon, regardless of platform.

Population should be fine, especially with the megaserver it will feel like there are many players (and you will still be able to communicate with the rest of the ESO community even if you can't play with them)

The real concern you need to have is that consoles will be severely limited in communication due to not using a keyboard. Communication is probably the key feature of an MMO, it is what creates the sense of community, what allows for strategies to take place, what makes the genre what it is. Without a keyboard you will have to rely on voice communication which is great but is obviously limited to very small numbers of people. If i'm being blunt, the idea of playing this game on a console is absurd. It will not be anywhere near the same experience as playing on PC.

Who's to say you won't be able to use a USB keyboard on the consoles? The typing argument seems to me to be a very weak one.

I agree that it will be a somewhat "different" experience. But saying that playing it on a console is absurd is, well...... absurd. Communication may lack a little on console compared to PC, but not enough to make it absurd. Just different.

^^This. ESO will most likely support USB keyboards. It has been an option in other games dating back to the PS2 days.

Sure, you probably do have the option, but how will this work out during battle? Since ESO is designed to have a very real time combat system, you will not be able to just put the controller down and then type. It will only be useful when you are doing nothing, which probably isn't that often. Now if we're talking full on Keyboard and Mouse and that's how it's being controlled, then I rest my case. But will that even be an option?

A little? If you are limited to just voice communication, then that's rather limiting. Sure you will be able to chat with friends and groups, but what about large raids in PVP? How will the giant battles be coordinated and not just be hundreds of people zerging?

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Hyperbole much?? When you type in battle will you do so one handed, or will you briefly take your hand off the mouse?
Why could they not set the controller down for a sec, type, pick it back up?
Just remember, our way (I will play on PC) MAY be the better way, but is in no way, shape or form the ONLY way. Players can/will adapt and being on their own server (separate of PC) will all be on equal footing.

I see no validity in this argument ... it's just a loyalty argument, Ford Vs. Chevy etc...

It's not at all a loyalty argument. I have consoles and love them. In fact i've played TES games primarily on consoles (though I personally agree they are better on PC).

This is not a "ford vs. chevy" argument, because those two cars are ultimately pretty comparable. This is about a fundamental difference in the way the game will be experienced.

And this fundamental difference is whether or not you'll be setting your controller in your lap for a second while you type with the keyboard on the coffee table.

In what other FUNDAMENTAL ways will the game be changed?

out of curiosity, have you played MMO's on a PC before? You can very easily still fight while quickly typing here and there. Using the wasd keys to run and the hotkeys to fight, it can definitely be done without too much difficulty. This allows for immediate strategy changes in battle and other important details.

I don't see how someone would be able to keep playing on a controller and type with the other hand. This means that in order to type you have to literally STOP PLAYING for the amount of time it takes you. This completely changes the dynamic of when it is acceptable and advantageous to type a message, thus changing the way the game is played. On a console if you are in the middle of battle and you stop to quickly type something to your teammates or fellow alliance members, you will likely lose very quickly. Not having the option to communicate in that way in the heat of battle prevents strategic conversations or calls for assistance.

Even outside of battle, the console will make communication much more tedious. When in a major city, say someone is crafting or running errands. On PC you can easily keep up a chat while doing these activities. On console you have to basically choose one or the other at any given moment. I believe this will lead to less people communicating because they will see it as a distraction and potential waste of time from what they are doing. That doesn't bode well for creating a thriving and interactive community.

You must type with your nose Juib. Because taking your hands off of one side of the controller or off of the mouse is apparently impossible in your mind.

I think he doesn't see a way it could work because he doesn't WANT to see a way it could work. Holding the controller in one hand is a perfect example.

And I've played all my MMOs on PC.

it's been my experience in PC MMOs that when doing anything difficult enough that it REQUIRES communication, the communication has been via headset.

If whatever you are doing isn't complex enough to require audio communication, then I'm sure I wouldn't be too hard pressed to type during battles either.

You obviously didn't read what I said. Taking your hand off a mouse and typing is easy, fast, and you can do so without stopping what you are doing for the most part. Not to mention when you take your hand off the mouse, you suddenly have both hands on the keyboard and can thus type very fast. You can easily type a sentence without much break at all in your gameplay.

Now let's think this through on a console. Taking your hand off one side of a controller will completely limit you to what you can do as the movement keys and the attack buttons are on separate hands (as opposed to on keyboard where they are right next to each other). Not to mention you will then only have one hand on the keyboard, which would lead to pretty slow typing. So you have two choices. You can either type with one hand, slowly, while being a mostly useless character, or you can take both hands off the controller, type faster, but be 100% useless. Neither of those options is very good, and I maintain that it fundamentally changes the way the game is played.

OR console pay will force your in combat communication to be more concise. There's always a solution. And, as I said before, playing on PC may be the BETTER way but better way != only acceptable way.

For small groups, of course this is viable. For dozens of people attacking a keep, not at all. This is why in other MMO's when you raid with large numbers of people, pretty much only the guild leader, tank (if not the guild leader) and class leaders talk while in combat so as to not talk over each other. Everyone else mostly communicates via typing. (say for instance "hey man, can you buff me again" or "hey can I get a potion from you" or "hey dike, try not to pull the adds this time lol"...saying that over voice chat is an annoyance to most people) I've been in a few raids where everyone tried to talk and it was a disaster. Now imagine a raid of hundreds on a keep, and the only way to communicate is with voice chat. I just don't see it going well.

You're right, it's not for me to tell others the experience they should be having. I just know that for me personally I wouldn't be able to have those limitations after playing so many MMO's on PC.

So when you are talking IN BATTLE, I would assume you aren't talking to EVERYONE around you. It would be "absurd" to think EVERYONE is going to pay attention to you. So it's safe to say you are talking to friends and/or guild members that you have most likely grouped up with. With that said, a headset would be MUCH more effective because you can keep BOTH hands on the controller. Beats the heck out of "typing really fast" with two hands don't you agree?

I wouldn't underestimate the ability of console people to overcome the limitations of their platform. That being said, a PC will still be the best way to experience ESO.

Many people who are going to favor the console version of the game already have limitations. If you can get the game on the PS4 or Xbox One and have it run smoothly, then isn't that better than getting the game on a PC that is only capable of running the game at twelve frames per second even on the lowest graphical settings? My computer can run World of Warcraft. It can run Star Wars: The Old Republic. I'm confident that it'll be able to run The Elder Scrolls Online as well. But how much will I really enjoy it if my characters look like grey blobs and the world is completely textureless? My sister asked me to install some zombie MMORPG that got horrible reviews, as she enjoys it for some reason, but even on the lowest graphical settings I frequently dip below ten frames per second.

I suppose I could spend the 800 bucks that I'll ultimately spend on getting an Xbox One and get a new PC - my current PC is an all-in-one that can't be upgraded - but I prefer the luxury of a console and the knowledge that I can play games for a 7-10 years without ever worrying about replacing or upgrading a part.

Sure if your'e only talking to a limited number of people. But it's about options. On PC you can use text for the raid chat and just voice chat with a few friends. Or vice versa. However you do it, the opportunity to both communicate with a large group and your friends at the same time is there.

On console, if you're raiding with a large guild, nobody wants to hear your friendly banter with your friends. You are stuck either participating in the larger organization of the raid, or in chatting with friends.

PC just has more options. It creates a more rounded experience with a community that feels alive.

As to the other part of the OPs question/concern, before you commit to a console, I would say seek out reliable (that may or may not include your friends) advice on what you would need to do to upgrade your PC. Just saying it's 4 years old doesn't mean it's automatically a piece of junk. You might have a perfectly good MB and might even get by with the CPU you have, and just need more RAM and a new video card.

Also, read up on creating a separate user account just for gaming. Short version is you disable your printer drivers, stop Office/Adobe etc from loading up in the background and if you are sufficiently careful, even disable your AV software. All of which frees up more resources. Blackviper.com is a great place to start to pare Windows down to what you actually NEED.