General:The Road Ahead - February

Originally published February 12th, 2014. The original article can be found here.

500px|center|thumb|''Game Director Matt Firor returns with an update about ESO and where we're headed.''

Welcome to February's ESO Road Ahead! As you've probably heard by now, we made some big announcements last month as we introduced The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited and revealed our console release date as June 9th. We've gotten lots of great questions about our thinking behind this transition and what it means for you, whether you're already playing or you're waiting for the console versions. In this update, I'll be answering some of these important questions.

Loyalty Rewards
We have two more loyalty rewards to give out before Tamriel Unlimited launches in March. The first is the nine-month reward, and for this one we're channeling the chaos of Sheogorath, everyone's favorite deranged Daedric Prince. Behold: the Mask of Cheerful Slaughter, a unique costume which will be given to all ESO players who have subscribed for nine months between April 2014 and the Tamriel Unlimited launch in March 2015. 

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As I alluded to in our special ESO Live show on the day we announced Tamriel Unlimited, I'm very happy to share that we'll be granting an exclusive mount to everyone who has been with us from the beginning: a special Striped Senche (giant cat) mount, given only to those who are eligible. If you see someone prowling the battlefield on one, you'll know you're looking at one of the core members of the community, someone who has been exploring Tamriel with us for quite some time.

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Our goal in designing setting the criteria for eligibility was to ensure that we reward players who have been with us from the start, but to allow for the occasional lapse in subscription, as well. The criteria you'll need to meet to receive this very special mount are: 
You are an active ESO subscriber when we transition to Tamriel Unlimited.
You have paid for 300 total days of subscription time (non-consecutive), prior to March 16th.

Another part of our transition to Tamriel Unlimited will include the retirement of the Loyalty Program. We hope you'll treasure the special rewards you earned as some of our most dedicated players! 

The Philosophy of our Crown Store
As part of the changes coming to ESO, we're adding a virtual currency (crowns) to the game, along with an in-game Crown Store where you can purchase items like potions, soul gems, mounts, vanity pets, costumes, and more. You can see most of these changes right now on our playtest server (PTS).

The most important thing to remember about Tamriel Unlimited's virtual currency system is that we're not adjusting the base game—it will be exactly the same game, with the same leveling pace, experience point gain, user interface, etc. that you have been used to since April of last year. We're adding customization and convenience items in the Crown Store, but those will be added to the game as it is now; we're not going to make it harder for you to enjoy the game you already play to encourage you to use the Crown Store.

I want to take a moment and talk about the philosophy we use to determine the types of items we put in the store—you've heard us refer to them as “customization and convenience" items before. Simply put, this means that an item in the Crown Store serves one of two purposes: it either provides a visual upgrade or distinction for your character, or it provides a way to save time at the expense of spending crowns. When it comes to this second category of items, we generally will make in-game variants of similar items available either as drops or as player-craftable items, as well.

Some good examples of this are the health, stamina, and magicka potions that are available in the Crown Store. They can be purchased with crowns, but they're functionally very similar to the potions you can purchase from in-game vendors, and they're somewhat weaker and less effective than player-crafted potions. This gives the player a choice: spend some crowns to get potions right now, or play a while to earn in-game gold and then spend it either at a vendor, another player, or at a Guild Store. 

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I know there's some concern and discussion around what types of items you'll see in the Crown Store in the future, and I want to stress that our philosophy of convenience and customization will always be used to make the determination of what goes into the store and what doesn't. As such, I can tell you that we'll almost certainly have experience boost potions in the store at some point, as this kind of shortcut (spending less time to gain experience) is classified as a convenience. We're still discussing what convenience items we'll also make available for purchase in-game with gold. Nothing is defined yet, though.

And, of course, everyone knows what kinds of customization items are available in the Crown Store: upgraded mounts, cool vanity pets, and both roleplaying and “armor" costumes. These are there for fun and to help your character stand out in the crowd.

We'll constantly be working on new Crown Store items, so expect to see them rolled out on the PTS from time to time. 

ESO Plus
The easiest way to take advantage of the Crown Store and Tamriel Unlimited is to be an ESO Plus member. As a member, you'll get bonuses to many in-game leveling systems (experience point gain, inspiration gain for crafting, etc.), 1500 crowns to spend in the Crown Store each month, and access to all DLC game packs for the duration of your membership. Existing ESO PC subscribers will automatically be enrolled in ESO Plus when Tamriel Unlimited launches, so no further action will be required to become a member if you're a subscriber at that time. 

Console Release Dates
We also announced that ESO's console release date for both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 is June 9th, 2015. Since the announcement, we've frequently gotten a series of questions along the lines of “what took so long?"

It's actually pretty simple: we wanted to make sure the console version didn't feel like a port, but like a game designed specifically for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. There's a lot of variance between these platforms and the PC or Mac, and the game needs to reflect that. When you play ESO on either console, it should feel like the game was made for that platform. 

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Also, as we worked on parallel teams to develop the console version, we had the initiative to improve the console experience by taking advantage of voice chat and adapting the game for play on a controller. This led to the development of a completely new user interface, as well as many features that take advantage of the built-in services that the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 offer.

I hope fans find the wait worthwhile when they jump into the console versions in June. 

Console Transfers
We haven't forgotten about those of you who have been waiting to transfer your PC or Mac characters to the Xbox One or PlayStation 4. If you bought the PC or Mac version of ESO and activated it before June 30th, 2014, you're eligible for The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited with account copy, which will be priced at $20.

When the option becomes available on our website, you'll get an email from us with details. You'll be able to set this up well before June 9th. When the transfer happens, all of your characters will be copied to the destination of your choice, and they'll bring all their equipment, inventory items, and everything in their bank. 

Wrapping up
That's it for this month's Road Ahead – with 1.6 going live in February, Tamriel Unlimited launch in March, and console launch in early June, it's going to be a very fun late-winter and early-spring in Tamriel!